Searching for Providence : I
by Godentine
Summary: Five year old Naruto wants to be Hokage, to earn the respect of a village. Looking back at the village as he's led by Jiraiya on a seven year training trip, he vowed that when he got back, nobody would look down on him again. [Hiatus. Plot got killed]
1. Earliest Lessons : Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer : Naruto is not owned by me**

**I want to say right here and now that this is :  
**

**A. An Epic Length Fic**

**B. NOT a superNaruto fic. I know that it'll seem that I'm completely lying at first, but bear with me for the first 15 chapters. The truth in my words will surface only after that, where he has to take the bell test and is compared with Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura.  
**

**C. NOT completely composed of cliches. Many of the dreams and wishes Naruto holds when he's five will change over time and his actions will show varying degrees of maturity depending on age. An example is his dream to be Hokage which will have died by the time he becomes Genin.  
**

**D. This is NOT a humor fic. I've actually been asked to change the genre once. The beginning is full of Naruto and Jiraiya antics because...Naruto is FIVE. These things will gradually die away as the story progresses**

**E. I appreciate thoughtful reviews which throw out ideas and provide controversy over what I wrote, or suggestions for improvement. This is actually encouraged and I hope that if you feel that my story is worth reading, that you would provide me with some feed back.**

**I will note that personally, nothing frustrates me more than getting a low amount of reviews for a chapter. This tells me that people did not like the chapter - but then they don't tell me why.  
**

**Thank you for taking the time to read this A/N - Godentine  
**

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_Once, in everyone's life, they are a child. And as a child, they have innocence and a taste for adventure that battle weary adults do not have. Which is a shame really - just because we understand how something works and why something happens does not mean we should lose our wonder of it. Because thats what makes life really worth living._

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Rain dripped down the mud-splattered streets. The storm had slackened since the roaring tempest a few minutes ago and now it was only a trickle from the clouds. Ripples danced on the puddles of water as footsteps echoed throughout the deserted schoolyard. The swing creaked as the man walked on. The swing creaked again. The man turned curiously before he saw a small boy. Yes, it was a boy, sitting on the swings. His blond hair was sopping wet and it was plastered against his forehead. The white shirt he was wearing as soaked to the point of transparency and his pants seemed skin-tight as they clung to his skin. It looked like he had sat out the entire storm in the school yard.

The man walked towards him with a mixture of curiousity and pity. The boy looked up as the strange man neared him. The man carried a large maroon umbrella, shielding his masses of frizzy white hair and a giant scroll mounted on his back. Red face paint streaked from his eyes to his chin and a large wart was present on his nose. He looked funny. Peering closer, the light blue eyes sought out a band tied around the man's head. He was a ninja. The man watched astonished as the boy grabbed the rope which bound the swing to the rickety pole overhead before standing up. Grabbing the pole, the boy swung off it before catching the limbs of a tree with the underside of his legs. Momentarily hanging upside-down, he pulled himself up, but not before getting sprayed with even more water that he shook off the leaves.

The man, who was indeed a ninja, was amused. Who was this child to display such agility? He called out, "Hey gaki, shouldn't you be indoors in weather like this?"

There was no response. He tried again, "Most children don't sit out in storms ya' know, its probably not good for your health too."

He was once again ignored. Sighing, the man tried one more time, "Look I'm not going to hurt you, get out of the tree already and come over here."

His assurance of a sanctuary from harm seemed to appeal to the soaking boy who dropped out of the tree and walked towards the man. "Hi whats your name?"

The man smiled. It was a small accomplishment getting the boy to talk, though it wasn't overtly hard. "My name's the Ultra-Mega-Awesome TOAD SANNIN - and the author of the infamous Icha-Icha series!"

The boy stared at him blankly. The man chuckled, "Uh...heh... My names Jiraiya... How are you?"

An odd grin crossed the boy's face, one that was both happy, and sad. "My names Naruto!"

Jiraiya knelt down to Naruto's eye level. "Well Naruto, shouldn't you be at home? If you sit outside for to long in this weather, you might catch a cold."

Naruto shrugged. "My house? The villagers are burning it down...again."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and said skeptically, "Burning it huh? It's raining."

Naruto jumped up, "Here Mister Jiraiya, I'll show you!"

Naruto bounded up with surprising energy considering his dilipated state and led Jiraiya down the street. His house was just a few blocks over from the school, but Jiraiya didn't need to travel far to smell the acrid smoke rising in the air. As the house came into his and Naruto's sight, Jiraiya saw it was still a raging inferno, even with the storm. How was it being fed though? His keen eyes spotted three figures huddled together in a shadowy corner of the building. Each of them had a stream of fire flowing from their mouth. The faint streams illuminated a symbol on their sleeves.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, 'Uchiha...'

He disappeared, reappearing behind the group of Uchiha. One turned in shock before being struck with Jiraiya's umbrella. Before his body had hit the ground, Jiraiya had sweep kicked the other two through a wall. Naruto watched in amazement as Jiraiya picked up the three ninja and threw them over his back. Tossing his umbrella to Naruto, Jiraiya started walking toward the Hokage Tower, calling back "Come on Naruto, we're going to see the Sandaime regarding these fools."

Naruto hurried to catch up to him, "The old man?"

Jiraiya laughed, "Yep, he's the one. Now I bet I can get there faster then you can!"

Naruto shouted exuberently, "Your on!"

Jiraiya sped up as the kid sprinted past him, "Watch out boy, I'm coming!"

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The Hokage looked up as the door to his office crashed off its hinges. Two figures squeezed inside before instantly pointing at each other :

"I won!" "No I won!" "No way! Getting senile in your old age Jiraiya?" "Are you kidding? You were a mile behind!"

The Sandaime coughed. "It was a tie. Now what brings you here Jiraiya? Naruto?"

Jiraiya dumped the three Uchihas unceremoniously on the floor. "These vandals were caught burning down this kid's house."

The Sandaime inquired, "In the rain?"

Jiraiya nodded, "They were ninja."

Examining the fallen bodies more closely, the Hokage muttered, "Ah, yes I can see the vests now."

The Hokage paced back and forth through the small room. "Jiraiya, this is the fourth house that people have burnt down. I just can't go on issuing him houses you know."

Jiraiya smirked. "I don't remember crime rates being so high. You really must have let Konoha go."

The Sandaime glared at him and said hurridly. "My POINT is that Naruto is becoming a liability to Konoha society and stability. Its not that he's a bad kid, he really is kind at heart and I think of him as a son, but honestly, the weekly riots aren't something that Konoha can bear without buckling. And breaking."

Jiraiya was shocked but he also had the hint that his old teacher was trying to snag him into a plot he'd rather not be a part of. "Oh really? Might I ask why?"

The Sandaime took his pipe out of his mouth and exhaled a plume of smoke. "Remember the Fourth Hokage?"

Jiraiya knew he was in unknown territory now. 'Hmm, I'm not sure of that bastard's motives right now... I better venture carefully...'

With an accusing tone, Jiraiya said, "Dragging the Yondaime into this eh? Yeah, I should hope I remember him."

With the air of a spider sweeping a fly into its trap, the Sandaime asked, "And the Kyuubi?"

Jiraiya glared at him for a moment before stuttering, "Yes..No...No...You're kidding...right? That boy is the one...?"

Naruto interrupted, "Hey Old Man, whats a Kyuubi?"

Jiraiya and the Sandaime both looked over and said in unison, "Naruto, go outside."

He obediently toddled out.

The Sandaime turned back to Jiraiya before shaking his head, "I'm afraid so Jiraiya, the village is still terrified of him because of IT. They want me to kill him and even though the clans don't have an official position on the matter, alot of their members participate in the violence and riots against him. You yourself caught the three Uchiha."

Jiraiya pursed his lips, "Right. And?"

The Sandaime smiled slyly, "And I'm making you take him with your on your travels. Away from here and from Konoha's people. That's an order."

Jiraiya twitched, "You want me to teach him to be a voyeur?"

The Hokage's nostrils flared, "No you thick head, a NINJA - just think of it as a favor to the Yondaime."

Jiraiya muttered something that the Hokage didn't hear, "-_hero my ass..._ Okay looked Sandaime, you've played the pity card and the guilt card and the 'Do the Dead Guy a favor card' and of course, the 'Child in Need' bit. Really, I thought you were above that. But...against my better judgement, I'll take him."

Jiraiya was about to leave when he asked one more question, "Oh and 'Old Man', does this Naruto kid have any previous lessons regarding becoming a ninja?"

Sandaime reddened but answered, "Oh yes, last in his class. He's in his first...or maybe second year."

"Figures you bastard," Jiraiya moaned.

As he left the room Jiraiya added viciously, "But not in hell am I giving you any more Icha-Icha books."

Sandaime's face paled, "No wait! N-...dammit."

As he walked over to his crystal ball to find where Jiraiya and Naruto were going, he found that it had cracked. His eyes widened with a feeling of dread. 'I can't say why but... I have this feeling...that I just sentenced Naruto to certain death.'

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As Jiraiya stepped into the hall he found Naruto dripping water onto the planks of wood. He grabbed Naruto by the arm, "Hey gaki, I've got news for you!"

Naruto yelped as he was carried down the stairs, "What?"

Jiraiya winked, "You're coming with me from now on."

Naruto inquired, "Going where?"

As they exited the building, the two found the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds, "Oh nothing. Just coming with me to learn how to become a ninja...and to a warm bed, a shower and a good dinner."

Naruto considered it, "The food and the bed sound good, but I'm already learning to become a ninja."

Jiraiya asked, "Oh really? How old are you anyway?"

Naruto counted on his fingers, "Um...five."

Jiraiya smirked, "Well then you couldn't have been learning long. Anyway, not many would refuse lessons from me - The Toad Sannin!"

Naruto looked up, "Whys it matter if you're a sannin or not?"

Jiraiya bragged, "Well yeah, being a Sannin means you're an awesome ninja and one of the strongest in the world."

Naruto's face lit up, "In that case I want to be Hokage AND a Sannin!"

Jiraiya laughed, "Yeah okay. Now come on, we have to get you dried off."

The two checked into a hotel and as Jiraiya shoved Naruto into the shower, he told him, "Stay in there for half an hour, I'll be right back."

As Naruto started the shower he asked, "Where are you going?"

"Buying clothes."

While steam filled the bathroom Naruto reflected, 'Wow, clothes! I've never had more then two sets before...!'

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The next day, Jiraiya brought Naruto to the front gate. "We're leaving the village Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"Well what 'bout the old man?"

Jiraiya answered, "Oh he knows you're going. So, got any last messages for Konoha?"

Naruto grinned devilishly, "Yep!"

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A few hours later both Naruto and Jiraiya left Konoha snickering while passerbys stared at the Hokage Monument -which recently had been defaced with the most interesting mustaches and facial hair.

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That morning as Iruka got up he saw a note pinned to his refrigerator.

_HEY IRUKA!_

_Guess what! Toad Jiraiya Sannin...Toad...Icha...umm...this old white haired guy is taking me out of the village and is going to teach me to be a ninja. I don't mean that you weren't good, but the old-Old man said so! Don't worry though, I'll bring you a big present when I get back and then you can treat me to ramen again! I'll be an awesome ninja and ya know what then? I'll be Hokage - but not just a Hokage. I wanna be a Sannin too! Good Luck Iruka, remember to save some money for ramen when I get back! _

_Naruto_

Iruka smiled sadly. Was the little ball of (confused) energy really leaving? The village would then be so...normal...

'Man, its gonna be weird with Naruto gone...but...good luck to you too Naruto'.


	2. Earliest Lessons : Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto...blahblahblah**

**Credit to for how to make a fire http://www.wildwoodsurvival. com. I learned something! Check it out actually, the Fire with Water and Ice are both cool and rather innovative!**

**Not that I'm forcing you. I am not making profit from posting the web address blah blah blah...**

* * *

Jiraiya and Naruto had traveled for two days along the green grasslands of Konoha and it was testing Naruto's patience, eating away at the constraints Naruto had kept on his love for activity. Meanwhile, Jiraiya was ruffling furiously through a travel book. "Hmm...H...Hot...Hotsprings...right...should be one around here..."

Naruto asked curiously, hoping for excitement, "Watcha talkin to yourself for 'raiya?"

Jiraiya quickly hid his book and smiled sheepishly, "Eh-heh, I'm looking for a suitable...training site, thats it. Yeah!"

"Oh..."

Rubbing his knees, Naruto added, "Hey 'raiya, my legs are tired. Carry me."

Jiraiya slapped his forehead and growled, 'Last in his class huh? Tells me alot...'

"Look Naruto, 'Raiya here sez that if you want to be a ninja, you're going to have to walk all by yourself."

Naruto cried even more pitifully, "But I'm TIRREEDDD!"

Jiraiya sneered in disgust, "Okay then, we'll stop here."

As Naruto dropped relieved to the ground, Jiraiya hauled him right back up by the scruff of his neck. "And here we'll begin training."

Pointing to a rotting log, he ordered, "Kick that log until either it shatters or your foot breaks."

Naruto screamed in protest, "WHAT? Are you insane Jiraiya? How do you expect me to break that log?"

Jiraiya snorted, "Through skill you idiot. Watch -"

Jiraiya charged at a nearby tree before kicking it deftly. Nothing happened for a moment and Naruto was about to snicker when he heard a slight crunching sound. Splinters flew off the tree as it bent inward before breaking in half.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "No.Way."

Jiraiya walked back with his arms behind his head. "Heh, now get to it you lazy bum."

Naruto jumped up vigorously, "Ha, I bet I'll be able to do that in no time!"

He rushed up to the log and hadn't even kicked it a dozen times before he fell onto his knees. "OWWWW!...I stubbed my toe!"

When no one answered him, he looked up and saw Jiraiya walking away with his telescope. 'That bastard, I'll show him!'

Jiraiya was laughing as he walked away. 'That should keep him occupied. Now about those hot springs...heheh'

* * *

It was nightfall when Jiraiya was finished with his escapade. He giggled happily at his notebook, 'Oh yeah...the next issue of Icha-Icha will be the best by a long shot. And that bastard Sandaime won't get his grubby little hands on it...'

Cackling madly, he walked back to the log he assigned Naruto. Jiraiya was pleasantly surprised that there was a dent in the log now. He was about to congratulate Naruto when he finally found him stretched out upon the ground and when he saw the bloody mess that was Naruto's leg, he couldn't help but gasp. 'What the _fuck _was this kid doing?'

Forgetting about his latest achievements, Jiraiya tossed his notebooks to the ground before rushing over to Naruto. Leaning over Naruto he shook his shoulder. "Gaki get-up, Naruto get-up. Wakey wakey!"

Groaning, Naruto got up shakily before shouting, "FINALLY JIRAIYA! Do you know how hungry I am? I swear, I must have starved to death three times over."

Jiraiya reeled back. "The HELL?"

Naruto crossed his arms, "I was hungry."

Jiraiya twitched, "Act like a ninja! If you're hungry, go forage for food or something! Don't fall on the ground! I thought something serious had happened!"

Naruto looked astonished, "Ahh... I never thought of that. Anyway, I think that me being hungry is important."

Jiraiya sighed in exasperation. "Dear god...well then, let me see your leg."

Naruto looked down at his leg, "Wow! I never noticed that it was getting so...bloody I guess."

'Idiot'

Pulling the leg of Naruto's pants up, Jiraiya ran his finger along the leg looking for abrasions, cuts, anything to warrent the excessive amount of blood on his leg. He found nothing. His brows furrowed in concentration Jiraiya examined the leg closer. There wasn't even a mark from recently healed wounds, though Naruto's sandal was completely ruined.

'Is it the Kyuubi thats healing him? Hmm... I'll have to watch him more closely during our training.'

Lowering the pants leg once again, Jiraiya smiled confidently, "Haha, your legs okay."

Naruto smiled too, but uncertainly. There was something about the look Jiraiya had before that scared him. A bucket was thrusted at his head. "Now get some water for dinner Naruto."

"Will dinner be ramen?"

"Just go dammit."

Before long, Naruto returned, his body sagging with the weight of the bucket of water. "This is heavy Jiraiya, help?"

Jiraiya ignored him as he skinned a rabbit. "No. Bring it here."

Naruto dropped the bucket next to his new master and peered over Jiraiya's shoulder at the poor bunny. "Hey, where'd ja get that rabbit from?"

Jiraiya answered brusquely, "The forest, now make a fire."

Naruto pouted angrily, "Why don't you do that?"

Jiraiya glared, "This is training. No idea why the hell they don't teach you this in class, but you're going to need to know how to make a fire."

Naruto glared back defiantly, "So how do I do it?"

Jiraiya sneered, "That's your problem isn't it? No fire, no dinner."

Naruto kicked the ground with his bloody foot before giving a yelp. The 'training' with the log had chaffed his skin raw, even though it had been healed. Grumbling, Naruto walked around the campsite picking up wood which he threw into a pile.

Sitting cross-legged in front of his pile of tinder, Naruto moodily rubbed two stones together. Of course nothing happened, seeing as they were simply random stones Naruto had found on the ground. Even as the stones clacked against each other producing nothing, Naruto persisted harder, confident that, like in the books, it was only a matter of time before the sparks leaped out and ignited the pile of wood in front of him.

After an hour of the sound of rock scraping and the frequent cries of dismay, Jiraiya was actually annoyed at Naruto's incompetency. The infernal _rrspps_ and _packks _tore at him until he stood up. Walking over the Naruto he kicked the rocks out of the boy's hands. "Okay, I've had enough of your screwing around. Tomorrow, you learn how to make a fire. Gawd, what DOES the ninja academy teach these days?"

Throwing him the smoldering yet appetizing remains of the rabbit, Jiraiya yawned and laid himself onto the ground before closing his eyes. After literally tearing the meat of the rabbit, Naruto rubbed his still aching stomach with a small whimper and followed suit.

* * *

The next morning Jiraiya was the first up. He glanced at the snoring lump that was Naruto before kicking it savagely. It snored back just as angrily. Jiraiya sighed and muttering darkly, picked up his bucket and limped toward the river. After filling the bucket with cold river water he returned and dumped onto Naruto. To Jiraiya's delight, not only did Naruto squeal like a girl, a fish also bounced off Naruto's head. "SCORE! I've got breakfast!"

Naruto exploded off the ground tearing at his clothes. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Jiraiya wagged his finger at him, "Tsk tsk tsk, don'tcha know Naruto? Four A.M is when all ninjas wake up!"

Naruto looked at Jiraiya in a combination of shock, disgust and soggy, pitiful wetness. "What the hell! You're trying to kill me! We never have to do any of this stuff in the academy!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened before he started laughing, and he laughed and laughed, until it turned into a coughing fit. Still sprawled out on the ground, Jiraiya gasped out, "Exactly. I really didn't think you were smart enough to realize brat."

Sitting back up, Jiraiya pulled Naruto down with him. "Now you understand. The academy is...well frankly, the academy is incompetent. They'll give you theories, equations, rules, practices, traditions and a whole load of bullcrap. Its not real. When you're in combat, you're not going to be given the angle of the opponent. You're not going to be asked to find the force of the shuriken. You're not going to need to know that when a fuuma shuriken is thrown with a force of whatever newtons, it'll go forty feet on a flat surface. You're not. I'm here to teach you the nitty-gritty. How to survive. While your classmates might be studying the fact that Stone-nin use Rock and Ground based attacks, you'll be learning how to trap animals. You know why? When you're hungry, you can't eat knowledge. You can eat animals though. In any case, no shit Stone-nin use 'STONE' attacks, but the academy will cover it, no matter how redundant it is."

Naruto got up to change his clothes and had his head buried in Jiraiya's backpack when Jiraiya continued, "In anycase, you seem to be tired, or at least not used to waking up at the nice early time of Four o'clock. Neither will ordinary gennins, but when in hostile or unknown territories, the average ninja team gets six to four hours of sleep a day. I am preparing you. This is real ninja training. Welcome to real life."

As Naruto came back, he yawned, "That was a great speech 'raiya. So how bout some more sleep?"

Jiraiya twitched before shoving the bucket at Naruto again. "Get some water. Now - wait, infact, heres another bucket. Two buckets of water. Go on now, shoo..."

Grumbling, Naruto walked off, lugging the two buckets with him. Jiraiya, meanwhile, was gutting the fish and had just finished when Naruto returned. Quickly running over Naruto proudly presented Jiraiya with the second bucket. "Look 'raiya! Blackberries! I found some on the way to the river. Theres a huge bush near the river"

Jiraiya accepted the bucket and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Good job, I'm rubbing off on you."

Naruto scooped up some water from the first bucket before throwing it at Jiraiya, "Yup!"

Dodging the spray of water, Jiraiya took two stones out of his pocket along with a kunai. As he started cutting the stones expertly, he told Naruto, "Hey, go get some sticks for our fire. Gotta cook the fish."

Obeying, Naruto gathered the sticks and when he returned Jiraiya put the kunai and rocks down and proceeded to make a teepee shape with the wood. "Watch this carefully Naruto."

When he was finished, Jiraiya went over to a nearby tree and peeled something off.

Looking at it, Naruto made a face. "Ewww..."

Jiraiya ignored him and kept going, "This is something called tinder fungus and is very flammable. I'll be lighting this on fire before using it to light the pile of sticks on fire."

He then took his stones and put one in each hand. Showing the one in his right hand to Naruto he explained, "This is my handstone which is called pentlandite. I scrape this against the other stone, Quartz to make sparks."

Pointing to the grooves he had carved in each stone though, Jiraiya elaborated, "See these grooves? They allow me to concentrate the heat I aquire through friction to make the sparks and a good fire as well as protect the heat from the wind. Without them, the most I might get is a few sparks but certainly no fire."

True to Jiraiya's word, when he rubbed the rocks together, they flashed and when the sparks rained onto the tinder fungus, the fungus caught fire. Dropping his rocks, Jiraiya picked up the fungus and lit the pile of flames.

Naruto watched with fascination as the flames grew. Jiraiya poked Naruto to get his attention. "Now if we had a 'flatter' fire, I would now ask you to get some rocks so I can cook my fish on them. However, if you did that, you'd have to make sure they're dry or else they'll explode when they touch the fire."

Naruto nodded absently as he gazed into the fire and was broken out of his reverie when Jiraiya planted two sticks next to the fire as splints for the pot he would be boiling the fish in.

"Okay then Naruto, today we'll be practicing making a fire. After breakfast, you'll be making teepee piles of wood until lunch. After lunch, I'll teach you other methods of making a fire."

Handing Naruto a pamphlet titled 'The Basics of Firemaking' he shooed him away. "Report to me at twelve o'clock, and by the way, it'd be a good idea to read the pamphlet and commit it to memory."

Naruto asked, "How do I know when its twelve o'clock?"

Jiraiya yawned as he walked away, "Thats your problem."

* * *

Grumbling Naruto opened the pamphlet and started exploring the interesting process of arranging wood.

As soon as he was out of eyesight, Jiraiya made a shadow clone. "Watch Naruto, make sure he doesn't kill himself."

As the clone stole into the trees, the real Jiraiya gave a perverted grin. Taking out his notebook, Jiraiya headed toward the bathhouse.

Three hours later, Naruto sighed and rubbed his stomach. The fish Jiraiya had left had been finished, and it felt like forever since he had last eaten. He thought of bucket of blackberries and was heartened as he looked for the bucket. It wasn't there. 'That bastard Jiraiya must have taken it for himself. Dammit. I'M STARVING!'

Naruto's eyes lingered on the dozens of teepees he had constructed and in the process, exhausting all the branches in the surrounding area. Thinking, Naruto remembered Jiraiya's words : "blah blah blah...forage for food...blah blah blah."

Brightening, Naruto jumped up and raced towards the river, "Berries!"Just before the river came insight, Naruto veered right and crashed into a bush, from which he instantly started plucking berries from. "Mmmm..."

Suddenly he was picked up. "Oh hi 'Raiya, you got any food?"

The Jiraiya clone shook his head, "Its time for the next part of your training."

Jiraiya carried Naruto to the river before depositing him on the ground. "Watch this."

Taking the small plastic bag, Jiraiya filled it with water before bringing the four corners together. "See how I squeezed the water into a pocket? Its now like a lens and I can concentrate sunlight to such an extent that I can burn things."

To prove his point, Jiraiya placed the bag of water above a leaf. Moments passed as the leaf started to smoke before igniting. Handing the bag to Naruto, Jiraiya instructed, "Just practice burning a few leaves. After you're done...wait for Jiraiya by the berry bush."

Naruto looked at him suspiciously, "What? You're not Jiraiya?"

Without answering 'Jiraiya' disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shrugging and making a mental note to ask about this later, Naruto examined the river bank for potential 'targets'.

Just twenty minutes later, the novelty of burning leaves with water had exhausted itself and the lure of food was back as Naruto hurried to the berry bush. Any hope of eating though was extinguished when he saw Jiraiya standing there, looking very impatient. "Okay, Naruto we have one more lesson before you get lunch."

"Aww..."

Taking out his stones, Jiraiya tossed them to Naruto, who lunged for them and missed. Picking them up, Naruto listened attentively, "Okay Naruto, we're going to light a fire to cook lunch with." As the pair walked back to the campsite Jiraiya explained, "Its simple really, just scrape the rocks together and sparks should jump out."

The two sat down as Naruto put the two stones together before letting it loose. Sparks rained onto the wood before flames lept out.

Jiraiya grinned widely. "Good job Naruto, you've learned your first lesson as a ninja. Now you won't freeze to death. Aren't you proud?"

Naruto cheered, "Yay! LUNCH!"


	3. Earliest Lessons : Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer : Naruto is not owned by me

(Omg this auto format is giving me a headache)

_ Mingshun : "But not in hell am I giving you any more Icha-Icha books."_

_No way in hell' you mean?_

Heh, I meant not in hell. The meaning is the same as 'No way in hell' but when I, at least, am speaking, I use 'Not in hell'. Thanks for pointing that out though. 

_KitMiyu : Awesome, keep is up this is a good story. I dont know why you dont have more reviews sigh_

Thanks for your concern ;)

_Hououza : Seems Jiraiya is being rather harsh, but then again it seems to be appropriate for getting Naruto to begin learning._

Jiraiya is the type to hate incompetence. Notice how annoyed he was with Naruto in the beginning of their training (in the manga...cannon? eh w.e). This got to the point of throwing Naruto off a cliff. 'LEARN OR DIE'. This is basically the policy Jiraiya is using here, except he does feed Naruto, though we don't know if Jiraiya would have saved Naruto if Naruto really was about to die in the cliff thing._  
_

_Taintedlegacy : I hope you make this a naruhina_

I'm not going to say anything about pairings. I'm haunted by that fact that the last story I had people vote on pairings, I got spammed with 150 reviews on 'NO NARUHINA'  


To people bored of the wilderness theme, this is the last chapter concerning wilderness survival in this arc. After this is Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, so umm...yay!

-I'm trying to keep this as realistic as possible and having Naruto learn how to make a fire in one day was, I felt, pushing it. You're going to be assuming that Naruto furthur developed his skills during my multiple timeskips.

-Also I'm trying to portray Naruto as a child. He's not going to be extremely intelligent and he hates Jiraiya because he feels Jiraiya is making him work. No kid likes to work ;)

-Last but not least, this 'tame training' will last only for another 2-3 chapters. Then it'll become marginally exciting before having a spot of tension. Then he gets to meet Sakura and Sasuke. And Kakashi

-Anyone notice that Jiraiya hasn't gotten Naruto to master the Rasengan at age five yet? ;)

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Waking up the next morning at four o'clock, Jiraiya dragged the sleeping body of Naruto over to the river before tossing him in. Naruto started sinking for a moment before suddenly waking up. "WHAT THE!?"

Spluttering, Naruto started waving his arms frantically as he sunk. "You...blurp...baster...blurp...I CAN'T SWIM...blurp..."

Looking at the child Jirayia laughed nervously before lifting Naruto out of the water. "I knew that. That was your...bath. Right. In anycase I'll be teaching you to float today."

"Now one last thing Naruto, you're going to wake up every morning at 4 o'clock or I'm throwing you into the river."

"NANI?!"

As Jiraiya took a change of clothes out of his pocket for Naruto he shrugged. "Deal with it. Theres no cities for miles around."

That was a blatant lie. In fact, Konoha was only a few days journey, even for a non-ninja, away. but Naruto didn't know that. "I hate you."

"We have three hours until breakfast. I'm going to give you a list of edible plants and roots. I want you to memorize it. Once your done or if you get tired, you still have my pamphlet on how to arrange sticks."

As Naruto read the list, Jiraiya produced a fishing rod along with bait and started fishing. A few moments into it, Jiraiya was irritate to hear snoring. 'That IDIOT'.

Taking his body, Jiraiya dunked Naruto's head into the river before throwing him next to the pamphlet. "Don't fall asleep. Understand?"

Muttering darkly, Naruto continued to read the pamphlet. When Jiraiya had three fish, he put his rod away and took out his notebook and a pencil before he started scribbling furiously.

Naruto looked at him curiously. "Hey watcha doing?"

Jiraiya looked at the boy out of the corner of his eye. "...I'm writing a story. Go read."

Accepting the answer at face value Naruto's eyes went back to the third entry.

"Blueberry

How to Identify : Are blue

Edible : Yes

How to prepare : Edible raw, can be used to make other things like jam"

Sighing Naruto proceeded to the next entry. Reading it over and over again Naruto had memorized nine edible plants and the entire pamphlet on making a fire. Jiraiya shoved a whole fish infront of him. "Eat up. Today will be tougher then usual."

When Naruto was done with the fish Jiraiya told him, "Okay, your fed. Now tell me five different edibles on the list."

Naruto ticked them off, along with the other three he knew. The last one seemed to have faded as he ate the fish. "Uh, I know you can eat apples, blueberries, nettles, carrots, leeks, carrots, goose berries, and mayapples. Goose berries sound soo weird."

Jiraiya twitched at the last comment. "Good job, you've exceeded my painfully low expectations. Now we start the next part of our training."

Naruto looked up, eager, "Really? What!?" 'I hope I won't have to learn how to learn how to gut fish or something gross.'

Jiraiya took out a shogi board, a chess board, and a chess board as well as their respective pieces. "Tactics. There are no weak soldiers under a good commander said the Yondaime Hokage. You're going to learn to be a good commander Naruto."

Pointing at the boards and the scattered pieces, Naruto asked, "What are those?"

Jiraiya made two clones before explaining, "They're games where you're the commander of an army. My clones will explain them to you while I go...somewhere else. You'll play against my clones until I get back."

Naruto looked at the boards questioningly as the two Jiraiyas set them up. 'Oh boy'.

Approaching the chess set, he sat down and one Jiraiya sat down infront of him.

"Okay Naruto. We'll start by me giving you the historical backround of this game. Chess is a game played by most successful ANBU commanders as well as most kages. I know for a fact that all three Sannin were exceptional at this game. In fact, leaders have actually used the game to settle minor conflicts like border intrusions. Whoever won the game won the confrontation."

Handing Naruto a notebook, Jiraiya commanded, "Take notes on what comes next. These are the rules of chess"

(You can skip this part)

"The eight pieces infront of the rest which are identical are 'pawns'. They can only move forward one square at a time, unless its their first move, in which they have the option of moving two squares. They can only attack the two squares diagnolly infront of them. In the 'point scale' that calculates the value of pieces and your army, pawns are worth one point. They are like Chunnin and are the grunts of chess.

The horses are knights. They attack in an L sort of pattern. They're like Jounin I guess because there nothing else that fits the category. They are valued at three and a half points.

The pointy thing is a bishop. They're like ANBU assassin teams as they have an unlimited reach through the battlefield but only diagnolly. Together, both bishops can corner and trap enemy units.

The castles are know as rooks. They are like the Sannin and are very versatile, able to move any amount of distance both vertically and horizontally. They are valued at five on the point scale.

The one with the crown is the queen. That is the Hokage and is your second most valuable piece. It can move in any direction and is valued at nine on the point scale.

The last piece with the cross is the king. That is Konoha, and you must protect it with your other pieces. If it can't move because all escape routes are covered by enemy units and is also being attacked, you lose the game. A special move with the king is if you have never moved it or one of the rooks next to it, if you can get all the pieces in between out, you can 'castle' your king. This offers your king decent protection from a rook to the side and pawns to the front."

Jiraiya peeked at Naruto's notebook and saw...he had drawn a squirrel. "BAKA!"

Naruto quickly pulled the notebook out of Jiraiya's reach. "Hey, I heard what you said, I like my squirrelly."

Jiraiya sighed and dragged Naruto to the chess set. "Your black. You go second. White always goes first. Get over it."

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The real Jiraiya had finally returned three hours later with a small trickle of blood running down his chin when he was greeted by the sight of his two clones sitting around an unconcious Naruto.

Jiraiya asked dryly, "Was he hungry again?"

One Jiraiya clone looked at him, "Nah. His head hurt to much and he passed out."

"Thats just great, gimme a second and I'll wake him up."

Disappearing again for a moment, Jiraiya came back into sight with a dead deer draped across his back. "Okay guys, dismissed."

Selecting one of the many piles of firewood Naruto had left up, Jiraiya quickly mounted the deer over the fire with splints before roasting it. Predictably, Naruto leaped up as soon as the smell of cooking food reached his nostrils. "Raiya! You're back! With food!"

Jiraiya laughed, "Yep, now after lunch I'm going to teach you how to get fresh water and if its not clean, how to filter it."

Naruto instantly talked back, "Yeah? Don't we already have fresh water?"

Jiraiya smacked him on the head, "Yes, but what if we didn't and you needed to find some?"

Naruto ahhed in understanding before asking, "Whens lunch?"

Jiraiya turned his splint as he answered, "You get lunch when you learn how to float in water."

Naruto's eyes bulged, "What?!"

Jiraiya sighed as he tugged Naruto over to the river before turnning and walking over to the lake that the river lead to. "You know, I've probably sighed more in these three days then I did last year? You know why? You have no skills. I swear that I'll beat those skills into you or so god help me."

Throwing Naruto into the lake, Jiraiya barked, "Take a deep breath and HOLD IT!"

Naruto struggled against the water while spluttering but eventually managed to get a breath. As he held it, Naruto noticed he was sinking and just as he was about to panick, he felt his body bob back to the surface. As he was dragged up onto shore by Jiraiya he spat out water before muttering, "Sugoi!"

Shaking his head Jiraiya pulled Naruto back to the campsite. 'Jeez, that moron.' (Jiraiya is never going to acknowledge Naruto is five.)

The deer was now smoking and a slight charred smell permeated the air. Dousing the fire with a water jutsu convinently done while Naruto's back was turned to avoid questions, Jiraiya cut a piece out of the deers leg and presented it to Naruto. "Here, for almost drowning. Again."

Accepting it gratefully Naruto ate it quickly, and as Jiraiya ate his own piece, he got Naruto a set of dry clothes. When they were both done, Jiraiya took Naruto down to the lake again. Jiraiya laid Naruto on the grass before lying down next to him. "Your next bit of training. How to relax. Look at the clouds Naruto, fall asleep, just don't move from here for the next hour. This is important as it lets you unwind from a day of training...or missions when you're older."

Naruto grinned as he looked at the clouds and in a blink of the eye, he was asleep.

He was shaken awake sometime later by Jiraiya and as he opened his blurred eyes, he was greeted by the sight of a sunset.

Jiraiya smiled gently when he noticed Naruto staring at the myirad of colors in the sky, and lifted Naruto up. "Come on kid, one more lesson, and you can go to sleep."

"Mmm...Hai Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya shook his head in wonder, 'He called me sama. Sleeping must really decapitate him...'

Settling themselves down on the lake, Jiraiya pointed at the lake and then at the river. "Naruto, if you wanted to drink water, what would you drink it from?"

Naruto yawned, "The lake, cuz theres no fishes there."

Jiraiya groaned. "Uh, no. Not only are there fish in the lake, the water in the river is cleaner. Since the water in the river is constantly moving, dirt and ick don't have a chance to concentrate in river water. Also, springs of water are usually better then river water because when it flows through the earth to get out of the ground, the earth actually filters the water for you."

Naruto nodded, as Jiraiya continued, "And last but not least, just don't drink water that looks disgusting."

Naruto lamented, "No duh."

Jiraiya smiled in anticipation, "Oh good, you've learned well. Okay then, you just sleep here, I have to go...somewhere, ta-ta!"

As Jiraiya hurried away into the sunset, Naruto shrugged before plopping down on the ground.

Snore...

Snore...


	4. Earliest Lessons : Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer : Naruto is not owned by me

Kaiseryuu : hoohoo, i like were this is going. keep it up, and make those da,m chapters longer, you're current chaps are barely snacks.

**No way...someone is appreciating the chapters? Hell, even I find writing them boring. But then again, you said 'where this is going'. Well I do too ;). I'm actually pushing the envelope seeing as my old chapters were 1000-2000 words long. I'm learning :).**

Hououza : So, Naruto continues his learning, and despite the fact he doesn't seem to be progressing at the moment I am sure that he will get there. Slowly.

**Of course Naruto is progressing! He's learned how to float, that food can be found, how to wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning and how to make a fire! This is probably the only fic that has Naruto doing crap like this, but you hear all the fics about Naruto taken away as a newborn by some random powerful dude,trained in chakra control at age 3 before meeting the Kyuubi, ninjutsu, demon jutsus, swordsmanship, and weights at 5, Rasengan or some other ridiculously powerful trumpcard like a lightning sword at 7, but...not how to swim. I mean really, what if Naruto fell into a river? (There would be a smiley here but the stupid auto format isn't letting me)**

Kwala : is naruto going to find out about th fox soon? jiraiya has never been a liar.

**Naw, Mizukis got to have a job eh?**

Kwala : this is why ero sannin doesn't have kids.

**And here I thought it was because every woman in the world hated him :).**

* * *

The next morning at four o'clock Jiraiya happily grabbed Naruto and dragged him towards the river. Tugging at the snoring body Jiraiya thought excitedly, 'Oh boy! Four in the morning! The one time of the day I get to hurt the idiot!'

Just as Jiraiya was about to heave Naruto into the water, Naruto's eyes snapped open. "I'M AWAKE! PUT ME DOWN!"

Obeying, Jiraiya muttered, "Party pooper..."

"Okay Naruto, I managed to forget to teach you how to filter water yesterday."

"Is that important?"

Jiraiya grinned hostilely, "Yup. Now listen, or I'm going to bash your head into that tree."

Gulping Naruto leaned forward as Jiraiya started talking, "You can dig a well. Because the earth purifies water naturally you should be abl-"

Naruto interupted, "You said that yesterd-"

Clamping a hand over Naruto's oversized mouth Jiraiya continued, "able to find pure water. Another way is to boil the water through making a fire, which should kill any bacteria in the water."

Seeing Naruto's confusion, Jiraiya added, "Bacteria are germs."

Taking his hand off Naruto's mouth Jiraiya finished, "Or, you can build a filter. Sand and grass can filter out suspended particles of filth like dirt while charcoal can filter out bacteria. Memorize. And when you're done, go get some food for me. I'm hungry - and if you don't then you don't get lunch."

Under the threat of not having lunch, Naruto quickly scurried away for a bucket to fill with berries.

* * *

After a 'hearty and filling' breakfast of berries, Jiraiya took Naruto into the forest, far enough that they were surrounded by trees but close enough to the campsite that you could see it just by turning it around.

Jiraiya leaned against a tree and have Naruto his commands for the rest day : "Today is Taijutsu day. You're going to punch and kick trees before learning how to swim. After that you eat lunch and have an hour of recreation. Then you run two miles before coming back. Then we have dinner before you go to bed."

Naruto looked up, "But - what? I can't swim!"

Jiraiya shrugged, "You'll learn quickly when I throw you in."

Counting on his fingers, Naruto added shocked, And "I'll be going to sleep at six o'clock!"

Jiraiya said through gritted teeth, "I'll be suprised if you lasted to six o'clock. Now punch the tree."

Giving it a go, Naruto attacked the tree before scooting aback and looking at his scraped hands. "Ow! That hurt...wait... I remember this from yesterday. This is the same thing that happened to my foot. 'Raiya, is my hand going to get all bloody?"

Jiraiya bit his lip. "Hmm...it will actually, but I'll get you some bandages to wrap around your hands, they'll cushion your hands and help soak up any blood. Just sit here for a moment."

Returning, Jiraiya brought with him a roll of bandages and proceeded to wrap Naruto's hands with them. "Okay then, now give it a try."

"It still hurts," complained Naruto.

Jiraiya, who had started to nap, opened one eye and closed it a moment later, "I'm sure you'll get used to it."

As frequent cries of pain arose from the boy, Jiraiya grumbled incoherently in his sleep before waking up and ordering, "Naruto, you stay here. I'll be napping all the way over_ there, _so don't disturb me."

"But what if I die?"

Jiraiya groaned, 'This kid is such a LOSER...', "What could possibly kill you?"

"The tree could attack me."

Fuming, Jiraiya left the scene, 'A reason THAT stupid, doesn't warrant an answer."

Naruto hmphed, "Stupid Sannin person, all leaving me to do something stupid like punch trees. I thought ninjas are all cool and kill bad guys. This is soo stupid."

As his fist connect with the tree again, Naruto slid back before adding, "And painful."

Relentlessly he hurled himself at the tree. "I'm not going to quit until I knock you down. YOU HEAR ME TREE? RAHHH!"

Hidden from sight, Jiraiya watched Naruto attack the tree vigorously. 'I might have misjudged the kid. What he lacks in intellect he makes up in spirit. But even being a spirited fighter doesn't mean you're a ninja. Tactics...survival...leadership and judgement. But that can be trained. Spirit can not. This child, Naruto, will be a good ninja. If he doesn't kill himself first."

Smiling quietly, Jiraiya sat down to watch Naruto hurl himself at the tree. Soon the punches gave away to kicks, tackles, combos of kicks, punches and even the occasional kneeing, elbowing or possibly head bashing. 'Actually I've changed my mind. This kid is INSANE. This _will _be fun..."

Naruto fell onto the ground, bandages unraveling from the wear and tear before rubbing his head. "Ow. Oh well. Break-time."

As soon as he laid down, Jiraiya stepped out of the trees and brought him right back up. "You've performed satisfactory, next you get to learn how to swim."

Taking Naruto, Jiraiya carried him to the lake, before walking over the water to Naruto's amazement and stranding Naruto on a small island in the middle of the lake. In fact it wasn't even an island. It was simply a small rock jutting out from the lake's bottom. Naruto's amazement was soon replaced by fury, and as Jiraiya turned his back to walk back to shore, Naruto shouted after him, "WHAT? YOU BASTARD, YOU'RE LEAVING ME HERE?"

"What an accurate assessment, I swear, you're a genius."

Making a face, Naruto looked at the disgustingly blue water and dipped his toe into it. 'Its not too cold...'

Bracing himself, Naruto dived into the water, remembering to take a gulp of air so he would float to the surface. 'Now the swimmers I see in Konoha kinda wave their arms around...I can try that...'

Slowly his awkward and random motion evolved into the 'doggy paddle' as he slowly made his way to shore. Jiraiya watched his progress with binoculars. 'He didn't sink. Amazing! And at the same time, I feel a staggering amount of disappointment..'

As Naruto tottered onto the shore exhausted, Jiraiya cuffed him on the shoulders, "Well you lucky not-drowned-boy, you have an hour of free play after you eat lunch. What do you plan to do with it?"

Naruto looked at Jiraiya through half-open eyes before muttering, "Forget lunch."

Jiraiya chuckled as the boy fell asleep right then and there before falling into his arms. 'Driving himself to the point of exhaustion. Well I'll be damned."

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Exactly one hour later, Jiraiya threw Naruto into the lake. As Naruto righted himself and swam back to shore, Jiraiya laid out some leftover deer. "Okay Naruto, lunch - before you go and run around the lake four times."

Naruto groaned and tore at the food with less gusto then usual. After was done, Naruto started running around the lake. As the water splashed next to him, Naruto though aimless, 'Sonovabitch I'm tired. Augh...This is worse then the damn villagers. Bleh... Hm...Look at that butterfly. Its kinda shiny...and pretty...like a flower...Oo...Funny...I can't walk straight... Why is everything so woozy?'

Jiraiya watched with some concern as Naruto staggered around drunkenly before collapsing to the ground. Appearing next to him, Jiraiya draped Naruto over his back and carried him to the shade of the trees. Digging in his sizeable pockets, Jiraiya produced a small container filled with pills before shaking one out. Sticking it in Naruto's mouth Jiraiya waited until he swallowed before he moved Naruto back to the tent. 'Soldier pill...that should keep the exhaustion at bay for now...'

* * *

Hours later, Naruto woke up to a starry sky in a sleeping bag. Jiraiya was tending a fire and when he heard the shuffled movement of Naruto stretching, he waved Naruto down, "Trainings over. Go back to sleep."

As Naruto's head fell back before he fell into a dreamless sleep - and to Jiraiya's joy, a soundless one as well.

* * *

The next day, Jiraiya decided not to haul Naruto to the river that day. He deserved it really, seeing as not many would have managed to drive themselves to the point of unconciousness and even Jiraiya had enough heart to spare Naruto from waking up so early. When Naruto got up at Nine, Jiraiya brought Naruto a scroll. "Naruto, do you know what hand-seals are?"

Naruto nodded blearily,"Man...its time for training already? What about breakfast."

Jiraiya glared as he handed the boy a plate of deer, "You got your damn breakfast, now answer the question."

Naruto crinkled his nose as he viewed the dish. "Deer again?"

Jiraiya stepped toward him threateningly, "If you don't want it, don't eat it. Now **answer the question!**"

Naruto answered rebelliously, "Yes. They held mold chakra into patterns that we use to execute jutsus. Right?"

"Good job. Do you know how to do handseals?"

"No."

On the verge of tearing out his hair Jiraiya threw the scroll at Naruto, who dodged it with a chunk of deer in his mouth. Jiraiya then said the word that Naruto feared most : _Memorize._

Grumbling incoherently, Jiraiya stalked towards the hotsprings. He needed to relax after not writing any Icha-Icha the day before.

Naruto looked at his new scroll. He was beginning to have a small collection now. "Snake seal. Form hand into a position that resembles a snake. See figure to the right."

'Wow, never could have thought of that', Naruto sweatdropped as he read the instructions. 'Thats so stupid...again.'

Stretching, Naruto winced as his shoulder blades cracked, "Oww... I'm sore as hell..."

Bending his fingures into all sorts of obsene shapes, Naruto continued laborously. After almost an hour of mindless fingerwork, Naruto flopped to the ground, his hands throbbing with a slight pain. The scroll he had been referring to dropped down. On the otherside, Naruto blearily saw what looked to be a series of handseals. 'Bush -...no Bunshin jutsu and a Kawarmi thingy jutsu. Oh man...this sucks..."

Oddly, the thought of quitting never did enter that thick skull of his as Naruto steadfastly stood up again and started on his first jutsu.

Under the handseal picutres was a description of the jutsu, "The Bunshin Jutsu - or clone jutsu - is a ninjutsu that allows the user to make a clone of themselves. This clone is an illusion and can not do any damage. It is dispelled if hit by any physical or chakra attack. Being an illusion, some blood lines such as the Uchiha's Sharingan are able to see through the clone."

Still below that was another jutsu.

"Kawarmi no Jutsu is a replacement jutsu. It replaces the user with a nearby object or a log. The source of the logs are unknown, but it is suspected that the logs are from the 'Summon World'. This jutsu is helpful if the ninja performing it can do it quickly, as replacement can help the user evade otherwise damaging or incapitating attacks. However, the chakra 'delay' is considerable when used. Chakra delay is a condition that you feel like a large amount of chakra has been taken from your reserves, though none has really disappeared. Most ninja get their chakra 'back' after a minute and can't continously use the kawarmi. However, ninja that are exceptionally skilled with chakra control or genjutsu can nullify this feeling and ninjas with a large enough chakra reserve or chakra replacement rate can simply negate this."

Naruto looked at the last bits of each paragraph in confusion. 'Chakra replacement rate? Basis? Sketchy?'

Shrugging, he turned back to pursue the bits of the paragraph he did understand, starting with Bunshin because it was first. 'Okay, Bunshin is clone. Clone is not real. Okay...lemme see if I can do it...'

Performing the required handseals, Naruto lept back as a puff of smoke appeared next to him. True to its word, the jutsu cause a clone to appear. A clone with grey skin. And one arm. With a bald spot. Naruto reflexively kicked at it, squealing, "EWWWwww!" The bunshin disappeared in a new puff of smoke, leaving Naruto standing there making a face. "This jutsu is messed up. Next!"

Now trying the Kawarmi jutsu, Naruto once again made the handseal specfied on the scroll and was rewarded with a tug on the back of his shirt. Spinning through a blur of colors, Naruto suddenly appeared above the forest. "AHHHHHHhhhhhhh!"

Plunging down through the trees, Naruto grunted as he bounced of tree branches before hitting Jiraiya on the head and richocheting into the women's hotsprings.

Naruto was never seen again.

-

Nah, joking.

-

Rubbing his head, Jiraiya cursed the gods, the Hokage, the little bastard Naruto, and his hitate which had been driven into his face by Naruto's butt. Creating a shadow clone, Jiraiya crept away still grumbling. The clone entered the spa cautiously. Being detected here could mean considerable pain. As he silently picked up Naruto, one of the spa's clerks looked over.

"Hey you, what are you doing here?!"

The clone Jiraiya gulped and taking his prize, ran as fast as he could toward the campsite. Leaping over the fence around the spa, Jiraiya ran like hell, chased by a mob of women with firery eyes (You read that right, fire-ry eyes). Midway there, one woman finally managed to land a punch on the clone, and as the clone grunted, falling into the lake before poofing away. Flying out of the clone's arms, Naruto landed in a pile of leaves behind a rock. Milling around and failing to find where their white-haired-perverted target went, the women finally left the area.

When the coast was clear, the real Jiraiya stepped out and retreived Naruto with much reluctance. What a shame he couldn't leave the git here to rot. How tragic.

Incidentally, the next day, Jiraiya told Naruto to break camp. Apparently it had something to do with losing good inspiration for his writing.

* * *

Sorry for the late update - state testing is this week (That is a rather important test btw) 


	5. Earliest Lessons : Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Disclaimer : Naruto's not mine..**

* * *

It was three days later when Jiraiya gave Naruto a rest from the arduous forced march. There was no sleep and little food and water, and no matter how many times Naruto wanted Jiraiya to carry him, Jiraiya refused. This forced Naruto to walk the whole of seven miles, with frequent rests along the way. Naruto and Jiraiya finally reached the new training ground/spa area on the night of the third day.

Naruto collapsed on the ground. "I'm sooo tired."

Jiraiya kicked at him. "No your not."

Lifting Naruto up, Jiraiya said, "You're going to learn how to climb a tree today."

Naruto laughed wearily, "I know how already!"

In the blink of an eye, Naruto found himself on the tip of a tall pine tree gripping on the top for dear life. Jiraiya was below him, somehow standing on the trunk of the tree. Grinning mischieviously, Jiraiya announced, "Your going to be stranded up here until you can somehow climb d-"

Naruto let go, smashing onto Jiraiya and sent both of them hurtling to the ground. Naruto rubbed his butt in slight pain, which had been nicely cushioned by Jiraiya's head. On the contuary to Naruto's relative healthiness, Jiraiya could feel his nose was broken, that his arm was bent in the wrong direction and that a few ribs had snapped. A trickle of blood ran down his face. "Mother f-"

Naruto stewed around in the newly setup tent. He had set it up. Jiraiya was 'indisposed', whatever that meant. Now he got no dinner...or breakfast the next day. It wasn't like it was his fault 'Raiya-baka broke his arm. Tch. He shuda made his arm out of metal or something, so it wouldn't break. And maybe he should have fallen on his head instead of his face. Might've made him smarter. Hmph. (That made perfect sense! Right?)

Jiraiya sat inside a seperate tent with bandages, disinfectant, among other things. His eyes a hard obsidian, Jiraiya swore internally, 'I'm going to watch that kid suffer tomorrow.'

When Naruto woke up the next morning at 4:20 AM, he saw that he was tied to a tree. Jiraiya was sitting infront of him, playing solitaire. When he noticed the boy move, Jiraiya walked up to him and triumphantly smirked, "Okay you little bastard, I'm going to teach you a lesson. We're going to fight."

Naruto snorted in laughter. "Me...fight YOU? I'd kill you! You have a broken arm and everything! I'd be a slaughter!"

Jiraiya glared, "Oh no Naruto, its not me you're fighting. Its HIM!"

A tiny frog walked out of the underbrush.

"Hi. My name is Gamasutoomu (Frog Storm)! You can call me Gamu."

Naruto snorted again. "You're sending me to fight this little frog? Come'on, lemme at 'im. I'll squish him beneath my foot."

The frog lept up into the air and kicked Naruto squarely in the head. "Owww! That frog's stronger then he looks. It doesn't matter though, a mere frog can not defeat the GREAT NARU-"

Naruto fell unceremoniously onto the ground as Jiraiya cut him from the tree. "Okay Naruto, now just remember, I have two bottles of beer riding on Gamu to win."

Naruto twitched, "Wait you're betting on that FROG to WIN?"

Jiraiya simply nodded and any other response was cut short as Gamu uppercutted Naruto. Landing on his back, Naruto scrambled for a stick, finding one among the hundreds scattered on the ground.

Charging at Gamu, Naruto swung his stick downward like a sword, only to be tripped and once again, ended up spawled on the ground. Jiraiya had taken out a bottle of champange and was relaxing on a lawn chair. 'This is the good life.' Taking a sip of his champagne, Jiraiya roared with laughter as Naruto ran into a tree.

Gamu saw the opportunity when Naruto fell and had taken the liberty to take Naruto's underpants and pull it over his head, provoking squeals of pain. His eyes covered, Naruto swung around randomly, batting the ground for a few moments before crashing into the same tree again. Robbing Naruto of his stick, Gamu poked Naruto in the side. Pulling his underwear off his head angrily, Naruto rolled over, slapping the ground where Gamu was last.

Gamu had jumped up to avoid the incoming blow and head-butted Naruto's stomach. Coughing and gasping for breath Naruto's hand moved quickly enough to trap the squirming from inbetween his fingers. Lifting Gamu up, Naruto threw the kicking frog at Jiraiya. Unperturbed, Jiraiya lifted his champange bottle and batted Gamu back at Naruto who kicked it up into the air. Landing on a tree slightly bruised, Gamu gave a powerful leap off the tree branch hurtling at Naruto. Naruto hit the ground as Gamu whizzed over him. Gamu had hit the ground powerfully, and was now extremely disoriented. Naruto took his stick and lashed out with it, hitting Gamu on the head with the first blow. As the second came, the frog raised his webbed paws, trapping the stick in between. Jumping at Naruto, Gamu let go of the stick catapulting into Naruto's ribs, knocking him into a tree. Scrambling back up, Naruto chased after the frog, diving onto it. Gamu then jumped into Naruto's shirt.

Jiraiya giggled as Naruto clawed at himself, desperately trying to get the frog off his body. Taking off his shirt, Naruto grabbed the frog off his stomach and in a splurt of anger threw Gamu at a tree. To his amazement, he could feel energy concentrate on his arm before releasing - just as the frog left his finger tips. Gamu had flown through three trees before he finally came to a stop.

Groaning, Gamu disappeared in a puff of smoke. Jiraiya's grin had disappeared as a huge toad appeared along side him. It was Gamabunta. "Ok sleezeball, wheres the beer?"

Jiraiya twitched as he pulled out two chilled bottles from under his chair. "Bah. The only reason you won is because I chose who to back first."

Gamabunta took the two bottles and smirked, "Yeah, and you chose wrong. Could it be the new Legendary Sucker!?"

As he disappeared, Jiraiya's face reddened considerably, almost able to see the fat toad boss rolling in laughter.

Rising from his easy chair, still clutching his champagne, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto by the arm. "Okay boy. So you can beat little frogs. And you can use chakra - without knowing what the hell you're doing. This will be tons of fun."

Naruto felt like crying as he heard the unspoken addition to the sentence _"-for me..."_

Jiraiya planted Naruto next to a tree. "See how you threw Gamu through those trees?" Jiraiya inquired.

Naruto nodded hesitantly. "Well you're going to do that again. Punch until you make another hole. Or you have to fight Gamu again."

Wincing at the terror of the 3 inch frog, Naruto started pumpelling the tree, and to Jiraiya's satisfaction, not so much as a dent appeared.

"Well good luck with that!"

Jiraiya waved to Naruto as he finished off his champange and walked toward the nearby spa. "I'll be back with dinner. I expect you to practice until then!"

Naruto put his shirt back on before looking at the tree. 'Bah, I can't punch through that tree and Jiraiya knows it! I need to figure out a way how and show that moron once and for all that I'm the best! ...hmm. I can kinda make a creepy clone of myself AND I can launch myself into the air before falling back a couple miles onto the ground..."

Walking over to Jiraiya's backpack, Naruto reached in and took out a single iron gauntlet. 'Jiraiya has like everything in his backpack. I wonder how he fits it all. Probably a ninja trick or something...'

"Okay, now that I have this metal glove thingy...all I have to do is make a stick launcher and master the replacement jutsu and the clone jutsu...this should work fine!"

_14 Hours Later_

Naruto groaned, satisifed with his accomplishments. It had taken alot of work, but he had finally managed to finish the replacement jutsu and the clone jutsu was decent. It worked fine - except that he was usually missing an arm or a leg. Naruto had a handful of strawberries next to him, left over from 'lunch, and was munching away. Feeling a semblance of energy return, Naruto got up and stretched. Hidden away behind him was his catapult, which had been made to launch sticks high into the air. It had been made through much trial and error and collapsed after one launch...but it worked and thats all that mattered. Concentrating, Naruto focused his chakra again... "Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Jiraiya smiled happily. It had been a good day (If you didn't count that his ribs hurt when he walked). He had spent the whole morning researching before stopping by a local town and gambling away the afternoon. Unlike his team mate Tsunade, Jiraiya had actually made a small profit - where as Tsunade ,the Legendary Sucker, would have gone completely broke.

To his surprise, when he returned to camp, he saw Naruto standing beside a clone of himself. 'Jeez, he's managed to figure out the Bunshin no Jutsu in two days. Average, I have to say...but with no prior ninjutsu training and no guidance... Impressive... He's already on par with the children of more minor clans at his age."

Outwardly, Jiraiya disguised his amazement. "I thought I told you to punch trees, Naruto, not to work on your jutsu," Jiraiya said disapprovingly.

Naruto smirked, "Heh, I can punch a hole through a tree 'Raiya baka."

A smile crept over Jiraiya's face. 'Heh, knowing this kid, he'll take out a power drill or something and tape it to hand.'

Looking down, Jiraiya adjusted a package he was holding and slid it behind his back. When he looked back up, he noticed that the real Naruto was gone. The bunshin still stood there gazing at him. Jiraiya stared back. "Well?"

The bunshin flashed a smile before running. He gained speed until it seemed like he was throwing himself toward the nearest tree.

The real Naruto had run into a clearing and found his catapult sitting behind the bush he had hid it behind. Beside it was the gauntlet. Naruto donned the metal glove and loaded a stick onto the catapult. He kicked out one of the supports of the catapult and as the catapult collapsed, the stick was sent into the air. Naruto watched it rise.

The bunshin had almost reached the tree and Jiraiya was watching, interested at what would happen next.

Right before the stick reached its highest point, Naruto had begun focusing chakra. Looking up, Naruto noticed when the stick had seemed to reach the highest altitude possible and released his accumulated chakra. There was a puff of smoke and right where Naruto had been...was the stick.

Now a couple hundred feet in the air, Naruto looked down and saw the dark red blob that was Jiraiya. A small distance away was his bunshin. Twisting his body, Naruto angled his body (and arm) toward the tree the bunshin was running for.

Jiraiya stared as the bunshin reached the tree. The bunshin pulled his arm back and just as his fist was about to hit it - the tree exploded. A huge dust cloud appeared and in the chaos, Jiraiya felt the bunshin dispel. As the dust cleared, Jiraiya found the real Naruto grinning at him. He heard a slight metallic tap as Naruto kicked something behind the tree, and true to his word, Naruto had created a hole in the tree.

"Well sonovabitch," Jiraiya gawked before sternly yelling, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? You could've DIED! What if you fell on your head?! What if you didn't go through the tree!? What if the impact broke your arm!?"

Naruto looked at Jiraiya curiously, more amazed at how Jiraiya knew how his little trick worked then the immense risks involved.

"How'dja know I did all that stuff?"

Jiraiya snorted arrogantly, "I'm a Sannin. Now if you ever, I mean EVER, do something this stupid again, I'm sending you right back to the Hokage."

Naruto brightened, "REALLY!?"

Jiraiya ripped at his hair. "No. In fact, I'll be making sure you only eat bread and water for the rest of your life."

It was a fate worse than death and Naruto started crying. "I-I'm sorry 'Raiya. I'll neeever do it againnnnnnnnn..."

Jiraiya nodded, 'Jeez. The thought of bland food really drives this kid up the wall.'

Taking out package, Jiraiya unwrapped it and the fume of savory smells permeated the air. "Hey Naruto, I got some take-out for you."

Naruto's tearfulness was instantly broken. "Wow! Real food! From _Chu's Kitchen_ too... I thought we were days away from the nearest town 'Raiya..."

Jiraiya shifted uneasily, "We are, I just...found this on the ground on my way back! Thats it!"

Naruto considered it for a moment before agreeing, "Okay then!"

Jiraiya stared at the boy as he started digging in and when he was sure Naruto had lost himself in the new 'real' food, Jiraiya walked over to the tree. Bending down, he peered behind it. 'Heh, so thats what he used, my battle gauntlet. Not bad...not bad at all."

Sure he had figured out Naruto's plan, Jiraiya stepped another few feet over and found the remnants of Naruto's catapult. 'Yep. That kid mastered both the Bunshin and Kawarmi jutsus. He used the bunshin to try and fool me into believing that he was punching the tree. He then threw something up into the air and replaced it with himself. Using the gauntlet, the little bastard shot himself into the tree and made a hole. The idiots suicidal - and creative as hell.'

'Hmm...he's persistant, oh-so-slightly talented and seemingly ingenious with his stupid plans to victory.'

He sighed as he remembered Naruto's reaction to the restaurant food. 'And gullible as hell.'

Yawning, he headed back toward Naruto, who was stuffing himself. Before he took two steps, a chicken bone hit his head.

'That little... These next few years are gonna be hell on earth for that little cretin!'

But for now, Jiraiya contented himself with pushing Naruto away from the meal and diving into the food himself.

Yelling indignantly, Naruto pushed Jiraiya's face into a carton of chicken.

Grinning mischievously, Jiraiya took out a piece of chicken and threw it at Naruto, who responded with a barrage of vegetables.

The food fight was on!

Meat, rice, noodles, fish and vegetables filled the air, staining clothes and inciting giggles.

And thought Jiraiya had to change his bandages after the fight, he had to admit, he hadn't had that much pure fun in years. And grudgingly, he admitted to himself, playing with the five year old was more joyful then watching women bathe...but not by much.

Compared to the commotion during dinner, Jiraiya and Naruto spent rest of the night relatively quietly, with a chess match in which Naruto won. He had switched Jiraiya's pieces around when the Sannin wasn't looking and Jiraiya didn't have the heart to correct the kid. He took his defeat gracefully and shortly afterwords, Naruto fell asleep.

Deciding to sleep out in the open instead of in a tent, Jiraiya walked over to the clearing where the catapult was scattered. Laying back, Jiraiya stared at the stars that blanketed the sky. For some reason, these last few days seemed to mark a new begining for him, that a chapter of his life had ended and a new one was about to start.

He looked over at Naruto's sleeping form.

And it was all because of a stupid kid he found on a swing.

* * *

Yeah, pushing it. But these guys are supposed to be ninja! Surely they can take a fall of only a couple HUNDRED feet... Eh. Well that was the only way I could think of. 


	6. Power of Youth : Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - FILLER/TIME SKIP CHAPTER! (Meh)**

**Disclaimer : Naruto not mine.  
**

**Yeah, I needed a filler. 14 chapters is such a bad number to end on. I have to make it round, so I've decided to make this filler to get it to fifteen! YAY ME!**

**Umm...oh...you don't agree?**

**Well to make up for it, its xtra long and...well its long... uh.. yeah **

**As a side note : the adventure will be begin eventually, but until then you're just gonna have to wait! A long while. Hey 15 (Up from 14) chapters isn't that long. Okay...maybe it is. BUT STILL!**

**Oh and I learned how to use the line button I never noticed. Hmph, making me make xxxxxxs every time...**

**And just so you know, I've decided on the fic's pairing. :)**

**Excuse : W00t, for these past three weeks I've been working on a 15 page essay for summer school! Its not like I get much of a break around here.**

**P.S. - I'm keeping Naruto's upbeat personality, it'll just be more tempered. There'll be noticeable changes every timeskip**

* * *

(Time Skip) 

_To the Sandaime :_

_Blah, its already been three god damn years with that brat Naruto. Hmph, well at least he's improving, he might even be worthy of being trained by me - not that I have a choice right now...(Sigh). Still, he's a little stubborn bastard who seems to enjoy slipping fish into my pants while I'm sleeping then actually focusing on training. Oh yeah, the new issue of Icha-Icha Paradise is coming out - and YOU WON'T GET ONE!_

_Field Report_

_10/10 23rd Year of the Rule of the Sandaime, 8th Year A.K (After Kyuubi)_

_Good news Old Man,_

_Naruto now possesses a long enough attention span to actually read a whole book on something as 'interesting' as anatomy, poisons, biology and other great boring stuff, after I threatened him, starved him, threw 3-inch frogs at him and used other cruel and unusual punishments. Indeed, his survival skills had greatly improved, Naruto _h_ad mastered fire making, water purifying, hunting, tracking, and shelter making. He had also rudimentary skills in signaling, trail blazing, animal care, night tracking, silently moving in underbrush and making animal sounds. Physically he had grown, and because, I, the Great Jiraiya, deprived him of ramen, so he has eaten semi-healthily for the last three years. Because of his daily intensive training, Naruto's body is now comprised nigh entirely of lean muscle. I am happy to note that the kid now has elements of common sense and attempts to look underneath the underneath (Especially on Birthdays). Its just that he fails most of the time._

_He is now physically strong enough to leave small dents in the trees around us and is now fairly fast for his age through the use of weights, cleverly disguised as shoes. He hasn't really questioned why I have to adjust his shoes every now and then._

_I've started him on throwing weapons a week ago and he's failing miserably. He's finally managed to learn how to aim the thing correctly, but can't hit moving targets worth a damn.  
_

_In terms of ninjutsu, he knows the three basic academy techniques, Henge, Kawarmi and Bunshin, and the tree climbing exercise. The latter is quite impressive, if you don't include it took him a month to learn it. He currently, as I am writing this, is throwing my RESEARCH-! Sonova... **(-----.-...'/.;;,;(&#&) - /-/\ \ -)** ...into the river because I won't and haven't given him any new powerful earth shattering jutsus since...umm...yeah three years ago. SHIT! WHATS HE DOING WITH MY BEER?! THAT BA-_

_But all in all, he seems worth teaching...Sort of...Kinda of...Okay, fine, not at all. He does reminds me of someone though...Kakashi? Nah...Yondaime? Okay, yeah that was kinda funny...Itachi? No...Aha, he reminds me of an Inuzuka, with how moronically forward he is at everything and his ability to disregard basic logic and reasoning! Hes also suicidal. In a suicidally good way._

_P.S. Last thing, old man, this kid has lots of 'potential'. I'm going to need some extra cash to help fund his training. (COUGH)  
_

_Regards, Jiraiya the Super Perve- ehh... Toad Sannin!  
_

* * *

Sarutobi sat in his Hokage Chair and stared at the message. 'What the hell is going on? Naruto's suicidal now? Does that mean he's dea- no, no, Jiraiya wouldn't have let that happen...right?' 

Addressing the post script, Sarutobi snorted. 'Heh, Jiraiya probably spent all his money on beer and women. Training my ass.'

Chortling, the Sandaime reread the message, catching something he missed the first time. '.._the new issue of Icha-Icha Paradise is coming out - and YOU WON'T GET ONE!..._'

A lonely tear slid down the Sandaime's cheek. 'HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO ME - I WAS HIS SENSEI FOR GOD'S SAKE! SO I SENT HIM TO TRAIN NARUTO...I DON'T DESERVE THIS!'

His tear drop landed on a miniature frog standing below him on the ground. He jumped up onto the Sandaime's desk before hopping onto his nose. "Hey Old Man, Candy. Now."

The Sandaime's eyebrow twitched. 'God dammit, whys EVERYONE calling me old?'

Muttering angrily, the Sandaime dug through his papers to find a small stripped box. He reached in and took out a little packet of 'Sugar Bombs', Konohamaru's favorite candy. He was sure his grandson would miss a single little thing like that, his ADD (Attention Deficiency Disorder) surely wouldn't let him. Slipping it to the frog, the Sandaime got up, putting the report in his pocket. The frog poofed away, satisfied, as the Sandaime descended the spiral stair case. Looking at his secretary he announced, "I'm going to visit the academy. I'll be back in a few hours."

Not looking up at all, his secretary nodded, before turning in her swivel chair to pick up an incoming phone call. As he turned to leave, he saw a team of gennin bringing packages the size of baby elephants. As they passed him, one waved, "Hey Hokage-sama. We're bringing packages from the ANBU Headquarters."

When he saw they group was headed for his office, he had to ask, "Whats in the packages?"

He shivered at the exuberant answer. "Fresh, hot, paperwork!"

* * *

Iruka was standing in his classroom teaching history to a group of aspiring gennins, and Naruto's would-be-classmates. 

Today's lesson was on the Mongols and their rapid deployment. To the Chunnin's surprise, his door squeaked open and the Hokage walked in. "Hello Iruka."

Walking over, the Hokage stood next to Iruka as the teacher introduced him. "Class, this is the Hokage. Now everyone say 'Hi' to him!"

The Hokage smiled when he heard the chorus of "Hi"s from his students. "So you're the academy students hmm?"

The Hokage stared at the boy"You're the next generation, Konoha's hopes and dreams! One of you might be the next Yellow Flash - the next Hokage - the next Sannin - a famous medic nin! The possibilities are endless! You are Konoha's tomorrow. What you do, learn and experience now will impact the future like nothing else! The lessons you learn from our instructors will help make Konoha a better place, one that each and everyone of you can be proud of!"

Applause echoed across the room as he closed his speech. Smiling, he moved closer to the students, pacing up and down the class rows. "It does my old heart good to see the next generation studying so hard!"

Leaning over, the Hokage looked at the student History Book that Shikamaru was reading:

_Ghengis Khan and the Mongols_

_As a counterpoint to European developments in the strategic art, the Mongol Emperor Ghengis Khan provides a useful example. Ghengis' successes, and those of his successors, were based upon manoeuvre and terror. The point of Genghis' strategic assault was nothing less than the psychology of the opposing population. By a steady and meticulous implementation of this strategy, Genghis and his descendants were able to conquer most of Eurasia._

_The building blocks of Genghis' army and his strategy were his tribal levies of mounted archers and (just as important) the vast horse-herds of Mongolia. Each archer had at least one extra horse; (it was an average five horses per man) thus the entire army could move with incredible rapidity. Moreover since horse milk and horse blood were the staples of the Mongolian diet, Genghis' horse-herds this fic will be a narufemhaku functioned not just as his means of movement but also as his logistical tail. All other necessities could be foraged and plundered. It was not until well into the 20th century that any army was able to match the rapidity of deployment of Genghis' armies._

_Compared to the armies of Genghis, all other armies were heavy and comparatively immobile. Through manoeuver and continuous assault, Chinese, Persian, Arab and European armies could be stressed until they broke, and then annihilated in pursuit._

_When confronted with a fortified city, the Mongol imperatives of maneuver and speed required that it be quickly subdued. Here the fear engendered by the awful reputation of the Mongolians helped. This fic will be a narufemhaku.So too did primitive biological warfare. A trebuchet or other type of ballista weapon would be used to launch dead animals and corpses into a barricaded city, spreading disease and death among the inhabitants. If a particular town or city displeased the Mongolian Khan, everyone in the city would be killed to set an example for all other cities. This could be called a form of psychological warfare._

_Note that of the above list of strategic terms, even this elementary summary indicates that the Mongols strategy was directed towards an objective being nothing less than the psychology of the opposing population) achieved through offensive; the offensive was characterized by concentration of forces, maneuvre, surprise and simplicity. Thus the Mongolian horde achieved for two centuries an unparalleled dominance in Eurasia. _

Looking back up, the Sandaime softly spoke, "Interesting don't you think?"

Shikamaru opened an eye, peering at the Sandaime, "Not really. It's quite troublesome in fact."

The Hokage was taken back, "But you're going to have to know this sort of thing if you want to pass."

Shikamaru yawned, "Eh. I already know all of this, rapid deployment, horses yadda-yadda-yadda. Its not like ninjas REALLY need to know about the Mongols in battle, right?"

"Yes, but by learning about what happened, you can learn from what he did right and applying that in battle."

"Yes Hokage-sama, but without actually applying it right?"

The Hokage was silent. As much as he hated to admit it, Shikamaru did have a slight point. All the theory in the world wasn't a substitute for experience. As he resumed his pacing, he wondered what Jiraiya was doing right now...

* * *

Miles away from the Sandaime, Jiraiya was hauling his own packages. Grinning sinisterly, he thought, 'Naruto's gonna love this!' 

It was 3 PM, just an hour before Naruto was due to return from swimming in the nearby Lake Mamizu. Sighing in relief, Jiraiya dropped his huge pile of boxes he had bought in town earlier before creating a team of five Kage Bunshins. "Okay guys, help yourself."

Tearing open the first box each Jiraiya, including the real one, armed himself with a waterpistol, filled to the brim with icy cold stream water. Smirking happily, the clones took shelter in the trees surrounding the campsite.

The real Jiraiya threw open the second box and took out two miniature cannons, one loaded with plastic peanuts, the other with streamers. Taking off the paperbacking, Jiraiya pressed the sticky end onto two trees overlooking the campsite. He slipped the remote that came with the cannons into his pocket The third box was hidden behind a bush for a 'game' that Jiraiya wanted to play later. A very one-sided game, but still, a game.

The fourth box revealed a folding table, and the fifth box a...well...another box. This new, smaller box was put on the table.

The last box was opened to reveal two scrolls. One was labeled _rangun,_ the other_, ninpo. _He set the two scrolls next to the box on the table.

A glance at the sun told Jiraiya that his hour was just about up and when he heard the crunching of leaves, the Sannin hurtled himself behind a nearby tree.

As he walked toward the campsite with a towel tied over his swim trunks, Naruto scanned the area around suspiciously. Today was his birthday and he knew it, and he knew that Jiraiya had a trap or a '_prank' _waiting for him, like he had every year. The first year it had been a pinata filled with paint bombs. When he finally broke the horse, a shower of paint plastered his skin and clothes for days. He vaguely remembered crying after that, but Jiraiya had made up for it by giving him a small frog wallet filled to the brim with money along with new clothes. Along with that had came a large box of ramen sent to him by the Sandaime and a diary complete with pencils from Iruka.

The year after, Jiraiya had given him a jutsu to do for his birthday, along with another change of clothes, some shoes, and a few casks of bubbly apple cider. Hidden in under one bottle were directions on how to make smoke bombs. It would have been wonderful, if the jutsu didn't change him into a yellow frog with purple stripes. Jiraiya kept him that way for the whole day until he decided to dispel the jutsu for him. He could still picture the bastard grinning the whole time. However, it should be mentioned that the Sandaime had given him a launcher that were supposed to shoot rubber darts when you pulled the trigger. Iruka, in turn, had conveniently given him a package of _**real** _darts which had amazingly enough fit perfectly into the launcher. And so revenge was served.

Who knows? This year it might be a burst of itching powder down the back, a temporary gender change, a...box.

Naruto's eyes fixtated on the box sitting on the table and the scrolls next to it. 'A trap?'

As he scooted cautiously foreward he was suddenly jumped.

"Haha!"

-

Naruto squealed as he was tackled to the ground. He gasped as sprays of chilling water sprinkled onto his face, sending chills down his spine. He grabbed his towel and tried to lash out with it, only to be pinned down and ruthlessly tickled. Giggling, Naruto squirmed around displacing dirt, his face now a light pink from laughter. Suddenly confetti of all kinds sprayed out at him from the trees. Spitting out a plastic peanut, Naruto shook off the many Jiraiyas before tackling one.

Right before he was about tickle the Jiraiya, a water balloon came out of nowhere, hitting Naruto on the head. Naruto glared at the Jiraiya who had thrown the balloon. The Jiraiya he was tickling suddenly turned to smoke as another balloon sailed out of the woods, hitting Naruto on the back. Looking around, he saw the other three Jiraiyas turn into smoke as well - which left the real one standing in the trees. Another balloon hit Naruto on the back. Whirling around, Naruto saw Jiraiya grinning sadistically before sending another balloon sailing at Naruto. Catching it, Naruto sent it back at him. Dodging it expertly, Jiraiya sent a quick barrage of five balloons at Naruto, who hit the dirt. The balloons whizzed over Naruto's head who, deprived of ammunition, ran at Jiraiya, aiming to knock him over. He was suddenly deterred when three sharp hits from Jiraiya knocked him onto the ground.

Growling Naruto suddenly made a quick hand seal, "Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Jiraiya's smirk grew wider. 'The boys not as stupid as I thought. To late.'

With the deadly precision of a Sannin, Jiraiya suddenly whipped another balloon at one of the Narutos,. The balloon flattened as it shot foreward, spinning rapidly.

Naruto's mouth fell open as he glimpsed the speeding projectile before it hit him in this face. Stumbling backward, Naruto's nose wrinkled. "Whats this...? Oh. My. God. JIRAIYAAAA!"

Jiraiya chuckles turned into full blown laughter as he was bowled over by Naruto. "_PERFUME?!_ This is worse then last year AND the year before it COMBINED!"

Jiraiya snickered even as Naruto pounded on his chest with his fists. "Yep!"

Grumpily, Naruto headed back toward the lake to try to wash off the scent of fresh flowers and daisies. However, it was in vain. Jiraiya had been careful the choose a perfume that was water proof, and he had found one.

As Naruto dragged himself back to the campsite, he found Jiraiya sitting at the table with a cake in front of him. "Hey Naru-chan, I like your new smell, very feminine."

"Hey, at least I don't smell like booze and sex, Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya reeled back in horror, "Whats wrong with booze and sex!?"

Muttering darkly, Naruto shook his head in frustration as he took the other chair that Jiraiya had laid out while he was gone.

He twitched when he saw the design on the cake. It had a picture of a cute looking doll holding a bouquet of flowers. Surrounding it was pink frosting and small hearts. In hot pink icing was the words, "Happy B-Day Naru-chan!"

"Ero-Sennin...you're going to pay for this!"

Springing over to a rock, Naruto magically produced a sake bottle from behind it. Jiraiya's eyes widened, 'No! Not my high-quality Grass Country Sake!'

Just as Naruto was about to smash the bottle against the rock, Jiraiya said teasingly, "Well I guess you don't want your presents then..."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya, then at the scrolls next to the cake. "Fine, we'll trade, you lousy-good-for-nothing-god-damn-piece-of-&#$$-mother-$#$#-Sannin."

Jiraiya mock gasped, "Language young man! What would your mother say?!"

Dryly, Naruto responded, "She'd agree with me before slapping you into the Stone Country."

Though he didn't show it, Jiraiya knew that Naruto was probably right. It wasn't that either of them knew who Naruto's actual parents were - its just attempting to kill perverts like Jiraiya just happened to be hardwired into most women at birth. Tossing over the two scrolls, Jiraiya was sent scrambling to save his beloved sake bottle from hitting the ground and spilling its holy contents.

Naruto gazed at his new possessions reverently. 'Wow! Real ninja stuff! Mmm...I can almost taste the ultra-awesome jutsus!'

Having rescued his sake, Jiraiya strolled over, clutching the bottle against his chest. Proudly he said, "Yep, you're going to be learning new some more advanced stuff now. The one that says _Rangun _(Melee) contains information about taijutsu. I've noticed that you focus on power and speed, so I've found a style that suits you."

"It's called the Lotus Style. This style relies on speed more than power, but its techniques are devastating to your opponent. However, I have to warn you that using them will greatly harm your own body as well. It's really a double edged sword. You just have to make sure the it's being swung at your opponent instead of you. And rather unfortunately, the only ninja that has mastered this style in Konoha is a little...unbalanced so to speak."

Naruto shrugged mentally. Eh, so theres an unbalanced ninja he might have to train under. Its not like he's not used to it. After all, he had Ero-Sennin...

Without warning, a bundle of clothes was shoved into his arms by Jiraiya, knocking him over for like the fifth time that day. "Happy birthday."

* * *

Naruto sat in his and Jiraiya's tent eating his pink cake. It was actually pretty good, not sweet enough for you to want to rip your tongue out, but not anything near bland. He had also discovered a layer of strawberries in the middle. His eyes twitched when he thought out of no where, 'This perfume's scent compliments the cake's taste quiet well...' 

'Meh, this would be pretty embarrassing anywhere else. Good thing that out here, nobody's around to see (or smell) me except for Jiraiya...'

As he looked around it tent absent mindedly, it occurred to him that he should save the cake. He rarely got sweets at all, being out in the wilderness, and that he should try to nurse the cake for all its worth. Taking a final bite, Naruto stowed the cake back inside the box it had come in and put it inside his backpack.

Sighing contently, Naruto pulled a book from a small stack beside his sleeping bag. Its title read, "The Picture Study of Human Physiology"

As he read, his eyes started to fall and his head nodded. Soon, it had given away to snoring and as Naruto slept, a smile crept on his face.

Life wasn't good, especially with Jiraiya around, but it sure as hell wasn't bad either.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke to find himself in a dank room, dimly lit by a single cracked light bulb. He was bound to a chair that was bolted into the floor with ropes around his arms and legs. The walls were covered with blood, the coppery smell assaulting his nostrils. In front of him was a single masked interrogator watching him intently. Around the man's neck was a hiate with a small rock on it. 

Naruto thought frantically, 'What...? Was I captured by Iwa? What happened to Jiraiya? Where am I anyhow?'

The interrogator spoke in a gravelly voice. "Naruto Uzumaki, Academy Student and Pupil of the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya. A citizen of Konoha. Number 312834. Correct?"

Naruto nodded numbly.

The mask crinkled to suggest the man was smiling. "Excellent."

A hand shot out and gripped Naruto's throat tightly. The interrogator rasped, "Now where is he?"

Naruto gasped, "Wh-who?"

"Jiraiya."

As inconspicuously as he could, Naruto tried reaching for pockets where he knew had a folding dagger. Meanwhile, he kept talking to attempt to distract the interrogator.

"Jiraiya...umm...aha! Did you check to hot springs? He's usually there, peeping on women. You can probably find him distracted doing research.'

The interrogator nodded pleased with the information, "A wise little boy and cooperative too."

Holding up a drill with a plier attachment he had been hiding behind his back, he grinned ferally, "I didn't even need to break you."

Naruto's heart leaped when he felt the hilt of the dagger. Carefully taking the weapon out, as not to drop it, Naruto flicked the blade out with his thumb. The masked man had turned to speak into an intercom system and had no idea his captive had just cut his bonds.

Just as he was about to report the location of the elusive Sannin, he was abruptly given a round house kick. Spinning around, Naruto used the momentum he had gained to follow up with a spinning low kick before tackling the man. The torture device clattered on the floor, out of reach of both Naruto and the man. Landing on his torso, the man attempted to get up but collapsed again when he felt the boy on his back. Taking his knife, Naruto cut a thin streak on the man's neck inbetween the neck and the base of his head, severing the nerves that lead to his brain. Its silence and lethality was just as Naruto had read.

Adrenaline pumping, Naruto threw the door to the room open revealing a labyrinth. He sprinted down the hallway his eyes wide opened, his mind too numb to realize he had just killed another man. He flashed past rows of empty jail cells, only to skid to a stop. A ragged woman who was starved to the extent her ribs were showing, looked at him sorrowfully through iron bars. Pulling out his knife, Naruto wasted no time jamming it into the lock securing the cell, attempting to break it. He paled when he saw the woman grin insanely, pulling a sword out of thin air. The woman charged at him, breaking through the bars completely with surprising strength. Letting go of his dagger, Naruto tumbled sideways, with no other direction to maneuver in the narrow hallway. He turned to see the zombie woman bearing down on him. Ducking, he narrowing having his head shredded by the woman.

The sword came down again. Instead of retreating backwards again, Naruto slid between the woman's legs missing the sword again by a hair's breadth. He tugged at his knife still stuck in the lock fruitlessly when he noticed a shift in the air. He jumped back just as the blade crashed in front of him, shearing the lock off the cell completely. As it clattered on the floor, the knife was jolted out to Naruto's glee. Taking a chance, Naruto dived for the dagger, rolling away as soon as he felt his hands enclose the hilt. However, his expedition did not go unpunished. The woman had driven the sword downward, giving Naruto's left shoulder a deep gash. Rolling backward, Naruto idly noticed that either the sword was extremely heavy or that the woman wasn't an experienced sword user. The sword came forward in a stabbing motion as Naruto charged. Naruto shifted his head slightly to the right so the sword zipped past him before lunging toward the woman, only to be deflected by the sword. Falling on his butt, Naruto felt a pelt of cold sweat as the sword stabbed downward. He feebly brought his dagger up before screwing his eyes shut.

The pain never came.

He opened his eyes to see that the sword had cleaved the entire blade of his dagger in half and was now stuck in the hilt. Using this opportunity, Naruto abandoned his dagger and punched the woman in the jaw. The woman's body sailed backwards slackly. The woman tried to get up again, using her sword as a crutch. However, Naruto had jumped up and performed an axe kick toward her neck but to his amazement, the woman had managed to raise her sword in time to in block the blow. Naruto took his fingers and drove them into the woman's eyes.

To his astonishment he felt no resistance what-so-ever. Just as suddenly did the woman collapse, face down. Rolling her over, Naruto gasped. It seemed it really had been a corpse all along. He could see bones through patches of missing skin. The hair that had been attached just a moment ago fell out and turned to dust.

The smell of rotting flesh filled the air. Peeling his eyes off the decomposing woman, Naruto ran.

And ran.

And ran.

He burst through the door at the other end of the dungeon before retching, the contents of his stomach spilling out on the ground. He stumbled forward into a pair of arms and a broad chest. "Naruto!"

"'Raiya!"

Naruto sniffled, "Jiraiya! Help me!"

Patting him on the head, Jiraiya smiled, "Its okay now Naruto, I'll get you out of here."

Smiling weakly, Naruto suddenly saw a slight movement in the shadows.

"Jiraiya! Watch out!"

Turning his head Jiraiya gaped as three shuriken dug into his back.

Three masked shinobi stepped out of the shadows, each with an Iwa hiate. "So this is the infamous Jiraiya."

Jiraiya's face tensed, "Iwa's ANBU? We're currently at peace! If you kill me or him, you'll be starting a war!"

A fourth shinobi appeared out of the darkness. "Hmph, yes, but who'll tell Konoha?"

Turning to his subordinates, the apparent captain ordered, "Kill them."

Without another word two Fuuma shuriken whirred at Jiraiya.

The Sannin deflected one only to be blindsided by the other. Just as the shuriken was about to shear Jiraiya into pieces, something dived across him shielding him.

Naruto gasped in pain as the giant shuriken dug into his back. The coppery smell was back. The shuriken had three of its blades sticking out the back of Naruto's body, but one had cut right through his ribcage and was protruding out in front of Jiraiya.

Jiraiya gasped in horror, "Naruto! Why...why did you do this for me?!"

Naruto looked at him weakly as his vision started to fade. "I don't know...my body just moved by itself. After all...I could let one of the only people in the world care about me die here can I?"

As Jiraiya's worried face faded, Naruto felt something seemingly tugging the back of his mind...

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open to see Jiraiya's smiling face. Silence permeated the tent as Naruto suddenly started to bawl. "_J-Jiraiyaaaaaa...I thought...I thought...Waaaaaa!_" 

Jiraiya kept smiling gently as he lifted Naruto's chin. "Come on, chin up, chest out..."

Patting Naruto's back Jiraiya explained, "Naruto...you've grown up a lot in these three years. Its time that you started being a real ninja now. In the real world, there are people stronger than me, some older than time itself, others perhaps a newborn babe. Ninjas die. They get captured. They're tortured. You're going to have to start to accept that...sadness and loss... is just as important in life as happiness and gain is."

His eyes hardened in seriousness as he continued. "Frankly, you've shown some extremely admirable traits already. When you dove in front of me to save me you showed that you knew, whether consciously or not, where real strength comes from. You grow strong when defending your loved ones...your bonds...your precious people. You are weak when you fight to simply kill, maim, and destroy. You showed selflessness, that you feel that others are more important than yourself. This is an admirable trait that not everyone has. Its the ability to conquer greed and want, the supposed seeds of evil. Once again, very admirable.You showed that you dislike killing when you...threw up after you saw the woman's corpse. You must always remember this Naruto : A dying man has a sight, a smell and a sound. The smell of burnt and rotting flesh. The sound of his agonizing screams to god. The sight of him writhing in unspeakable pain. Its not something you should ever enjoy Naruto."

On that solemn note Jiraiya turned to leave the tent, but not before one last thing. "I want you to swear an oath, never to use what I'll be teaching you to harm somebody in spite or hate."

Still shivering over what he had just experienced, Naruto raised his right hand and slowly sounded out, "I swear to never use...my skills...as a ninja...to harm anybody...in spite...or hate."

Hearing the boy's affirmation, Jiraiya relaxed. "Don't worry Naruto, you'll be a fantastic ninja someday. I can feel it."

As Jiraiya left the tent, Naruto snuggled back into his sleeping back, his eyes glazed over as he played out the events he had just gone through over...and over...and over...again...

* * *

** If anyone wants to know, Jiraiya used a genjutsu on Naruto.**

For those who don't know the pairing, I'll leave you to suffer.

This is about 5100 words...longest chapter yet.

* * *


	7. Power of Youth : Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Disclaimer : Naruto not mine. Words are mine. Not Naruto.  
**

**You might notice the title changed from Naruto's Journey to Searching for Providence...  
**

**Thats because I was inspired by a story I read...okay two years ago. But still, it had a really good ending that I'm going to do my best to duplicate. This is to tell you now that while 'my' ending is highly original, its not mine. I meant the ending to the 'series' of course. Not this training thing.**

**Congrats to Kai Dragoon for knowing the pairing! X )**

**It was fun for a while, but eh, I think I'll just put it here.**

**_The pairing is NARU-FEMHAKU -.-;;  
_**

**_Update-ish : Shit. I screwed up badly...I forgot the fem part and I have a least a couple people thinking this is yaoi... Dammit._  
**

* * *

**Immortal-Sacrifice : I might've but then I'd have lied. Its not Naruhina as I said above. **

* * *

**Hououza - He's gonna be Chunnin level by the time he gets back to Konoha, and have a host of other skills. I'm sure that his cooking skills will impress Haku...?**

* * *

**Ksai :**_ But just out of curiosity I read it today._** : Thx for being bored on that day... :)**

_And I must say it was suprising. _**: Cause I'm stereotypical boy : Turning boring and overdone topics into something ALMOST WORTH READING!**  
_  
I just hope you have a plan and you have a general idea of plot development. _**: Check my profile. The story is planned out there.**

_Because many authors just write unending "Naruto trains and become a God" without any plot. And when Naruto become super powerfull authors run out of ideas. I hope your fic is not the case. _**: They don't run out of ideas...they send Naruto to alternate dimesions or random lands full of godly powerful ninja stronger than Naruto, usually with a mythical sword or something.**

_ I would advise to make more time skips to see Naruto at older age sooner. But I guess that my advice is not going to affect you:P : _**I have a time skip planned every five chapters for the first 15 chapters. Its so you can see his skills and challenges set for him grow instead of, "Naruto trained hard under Jiraiya for seven years, mastering many power jutsus like (Insert A to S rank jutsu here), Summoning, the Rasengan, while obtaining ungodly levels of speed and superior taijutsu skills. He learned it through sheer hardwork and dedication, especially cause he has lots of stamina and he trains alot"**  
_  
I see, that there are so little reviews to this fic. And it deserves so much more. But I am too lazy to review previous chapters. Maybe later:P _**: You don't have to review the story for my sake, but thanks for the concern :)  
**

* * *

**Izatik : **Great story, I like how you made your chapters go over things slowly and had naruto train over a period of time. Rather than: Naruto meets Jiraiya, Jiraiya agrees to train naruto, time skip 3 years, Naruto pwns people. **(I'm very proud of it!)**_ And for the pairing. If it's yaoi i'll scream. Seriously. Your story has too much potential for you to turn it into yaoi. _**(Its not)**  
_ I'd say leave out the pairing. No matter what the pairing is, you'd probably lose readers. (_**Hey you're right! Heh.)**  
_ If there has to be a pairing, my choice would be Naruto/Hinata._ **(That was my first choice, but I threw it away later, I found a more perfect pairing. This...leaves me with HinaKiba though, and I've noticed people hate that...Maybe I should kill Hinata off...J/K...-ish...)**

* * *

**Story starts here **

A week had gone by. Jiraiya had given the boy some time off the first three days to recover from his ordeal with the Genjustu. Though reluctant, Jiraiya had to admit that if he had been forced to kill a person as well as watching his parents die right before his eyes, he'd probably have went berserk.

And in the end, Naruto really was just was a brat wasn't he? Not a machine...not a tool...not a weapon...just a child.

And as odd as it may sound, Jiraiya felt barbs of remorse sting him ever now and then. He steeled himself against the guilt. It was for the greater good, he told himself. By introducing Naruto to the harsh reality of the real world early, he would be giving him time to adjust to it. In the end, the child would remain more human than his peers in the long run. Or at least that was what he theorized.

Calling Naruto over, Jiraiya looked at the red-eyed boy. It look liked he hadn't slept as much as he should've these past few days. Grimacing, Jiraiya picked Naruto up and hoisted him onto his back. As he walked toward their tent, Jiraiya patted Naruto's back. "Hey kid, you awake?"

"Uhhmmm..."

Jiraiya smiled, "Good. I've decided we have to start training again. We'll start light. Wilderness training, I'll be taking you to a forest about fifty miles from here. You'll be living there for three days. I'll come and pick you up later."

Naruto sniffed again before hanging on to Jiraiya tighter, "You'll come back, right?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. The kid's behavior was understandable...but it was such a contrast to how he behaved before, flamboyant and confident. Now he acted insecure and afraid...

Picking up Naruto's backpack, Jiraiya's eyes hardened. Of course. Naruto's experiences in Konoha, where he was abused by villagers, where he received no love, no care... It must have left deeper scars than Naruto had let on. This, coupled with his Genjutsu, must have cracked his optimistic and hopeful facade. Naruto was worried about him, that he'd abandon him, just like everyone else... whether it be through death or necessity.

Patting him again Jiraiya reassured, "Of course Naruto, I'd never let anything bad happen to you. Remember, I'll never ever hurt you."

Naruto snuffled as hugged Jiraiya tightly as Jiraiya started to sprint away from their camp, covering fifty miles in a matter of minutes. When he got there, he saw Naruto had amazing fallen asleep on his back. Setting him down onto the ground, Jiraiya pulled out a notepad. 'He needs his rest, might as well let him have it.'

It was three hours and twenty notebook pages later that Naruto finally woke up. Jiraiya sighed. He had just gotten to the good part where Tyler finally gets taken to a hospital for a tragic war wound and meets Nurse Jen. She takes his shirt off to heal him and can't help but notice what strong arms he has...and how smooth his back is...and...

And, then that idiot woke up.

Naruto rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, "Jiraiya, aren't I supposed to be training?"

Jiraiya held back a laugh. 'What a one track mind... Training, training, training... Its all he ever does.'

"Yep you are. Its pretty simple actually, all you have to do is live in the woods for three days, providing yourself with food, water and shelter. With the conclusion of this last drill our wilderness training unit is officially over."

Naruto nodded before taking his bag and jumping into the woods. Jiraiya smiled before turning east. 'I need to head to town. He said he'll be meeting me today.'

* * *

As soon as he was a few yards in, Naruto pulled out a scroll. With bite to the thumb and a swish of blood, a trunk fell out. Both the scroll and the trunk were Jiraiya's and he had loaned it to Naruto for his Wilderness 'Stuff'. He didn't know how Jiraiya managed to get the trunk into that little flimsy piece of paper, but he knew out to get it out - and thats what mattered to him. 

Throwing the trunk open, Naruto pulled out three cans of make-up. One was green, the other dark green, and the last, brown. He smeared it over his face and limbs in a random pattern, with the general rule that each color can not touch itself. Holding his hand against the trees, he smiled wanly when he saw that you could barely distinguish his hand from the enviorment.

Throwing off his shorts and shirt, Naruto took out two other articles of clothing from the trunk and donned it. Both pants and shirt made of synthetic fibers, as to be water resistant, and layered with metal plates and chain mail. It bore a camo coloring similar to what he had just applied to himself. Lastly, he took out a helmet, placing it on his head, hiding his hair. There was a reason that blond hair was uncommon in the ninja world. Such bright colors had a tendency to get you killed, and in accordance with the Darwinian Theory, blonds were a dying breed.

Naruto knew there was no reason for all the preparation, but as Jiraiya had said, "When you train, you train to fight for your life."

As a ninja, ever bit of training done would climax in a fight for your very survival, and every bit of experience one could get between now and then was important. With that in mind, Naruto took his box and his scroll, traveling further into the forest.

Two miles in, Naruto set up his camp. Taking fallen logs and stacking them on top of each other, Naruto created a small cave like structure for him to reside in. Taking dead leaves from the forest floor, Naruto piled heavy clumps onto the house's skeleton. When he was done, he had a comfortable shelter that retained warmth and had the benefit of camouflage because of the leaves stacked on top and around it.

The next thing he did was collect sticks, focusing on large dry ones to use as kindling later. Once he had two decent sized piles, he stacked them behind his new house, along with his two fire-making rocks.

Reaching into his trunk, Naruto pulled out flash tags, ninja wire, kunai and shuriken. With a determined look on his face, Naruto started to string the ninja wire over the ground, intent on trapping a dinner to be cooked over the open fire.

* * *

By then, Jiraiya had made it to the town of Kanton. Checking the sun's position, Jiraiya estimated he still had a good half hour left before the rendezvous with his contact. He immediately started searching for the local bathes. 

Approximately two hours later he was awakened from his perverted fantasies by a sharp kick to the head. Turning around he saw his mole, wearing a black Akatsuki cloak. The man had black hair with bandages covered his face, excluding one eye, a dark void in his otherwise hidden face.

Checking the sun again, Jiraiya muttered moodily, "You're late."

The newcomer gave a million dollar grin, "Well I was late because...I...I was studying for a blood test."

Jiraiya snorted, "Tch. You can't fool me with excuses like that!"

Smiling slyly, the man said, "Its not like you weren't enjoying it."

Feeling a faint blush creeping up his cheeks, Jiraiya went straight to business, "You said that you had something important for me?"

The man nodded solemnly. "The Akatsuki are moving. They've finally found the Jinchuriki, Naruto and they're sending an assassin after him."

Jiraiya gapped at him, "_What?!_ But Naruto's with me! Theres no way they should've been able to pinpoint him!"

The stranger smiled wryly, "Then you should quit your little drinking habit, eh? Anyway, isn't there a kid you have to be attending to?"

Cursing at his own incompetence, Jiraiya sprinted towards the forest, leaving a trail of dust behind as his contact dissolved into thin air.

* * *

Naruto sighed contently, rubbing his stomach. He had managed to catch a boar in one of his kunai traps. He had set three rings of traps, the first consisted of kunai, to pick off any of the slower animals. If they had kept going forward, they would've hit the Flash tags. The noise and the light emitted would hopefully enrage the beast into charging forward to be eliminated by a shuriken trap. There is a distinct difference between kunai and shuriken, with kunai being heavier and less aerodynamic, having a dual use hand to hand weapons as well as throwing weapons. In contrast, shuriken were for throwing only, made to go extremely fast and extremely light, especially with the hole in the middle. 

Seeing the fire still blazing merrily, Naruto kicked up dirt, promptly suffocating it. Making sure that none of the embers still blazed, Naruto set out, with buckets in tow, to find some drinking water.

* * *

Even as Naruto left, a mysterious ninja was making his way toward the forest Naruto had been instructed to survive in. The ninja was armed with a half dozened poisoned darts attached to a wrist launcher, similar to the one Naruto had been given for his birthday as well as a handful of kunai 

He was one of three trainees taken on by the Akatsuki. He and Yura trained under Sasori of the Red Sand, while the other trainee, Tobi, was being taught by Zetsu. Both he and Yura were being raised to be spies, though his experience with poisons made him Sasori's helper in rearming his puppets.

Today his knowledge of poisons had made him an ideal candidate to kidnap the boy named Uzumaki Naruto. It was a kidnapping mission, perfect for his new stunning poison. He hadn't felt needed anything else to take down a small boy, even one that was a Jinchuriki. One good shot from his dart launcher was enough to lay elephants low for as long as two weeks! The other five darts he had brought were just in case he missed, which he was sure he wouldn't. But it was better to be safe then be sorry, especially when working for an organization as brutal as the Akatsuki.

The going had gotten rougher ever since he had penetrated the dense foliage of the forest. What surprised him most of all though, were the kunai traps he had encountered just a moment before. Surely his mission hadn't been leaked to this boy!

Proceeding forward with his launcher at the ready, the ninja stumbled on a green colored wire, only to be blinded and deafened. Thoughts raced through his head, 'Flash tags! He must know I'm here! I'm going to have to proceed with caution...it appears this won't be as easy as anticipated.'

He had managed to step over three other similar traps as he inched forward, critiquing each step with a ninja's eye. His hand brushed the bark of a tree. Suddenly the treetops were alive with noise as a score of shuriken blanketed the area he was in. Two of the metal disks hit him, one in the elbow as he had struggled to cover his face, and the other in the knee.

Once again stopped by his prey's ingenious trap making skills, the would-be-assassin took moment to heal his wounds. Ripping out the shuriken and adding it to his own weapon's pouch, the ninja's hands glowed area as he waved it over his wounds. He watched the wounds close with satisfaction before once again, continuing on at a snail's pace.

* * *

Naruto gave himself a brief reprieve from carrying the heavy buckets. He stretched his arms and yawned when an explosion of light came from the forest. He grinned as he continued on, 'Aw yeah! I hope its another pig!' 

As he entered the forest, he slowed slightly. As a result, when he walked past a set of snapped twigs and crushed leaves, he stiffened. 'Those tracks weren't left by animals...they were left by a human. That means...'

Forgetting about his water, Naruto followed the tracks swiftly and silently. His kunai traps had been set off, but a multitude had been deflected into the surrounding trees. The intruder was a ninja...

Exploring further revealed a Flash tag trap having been set off as well as two shuriken traps.

Just as he passed his last little ring of traps, he saw his unwanted house guest rummaging through his trunk. In a fit of anger at the invasion of his privacy, Naruto raised his right sleeve, leveling his dart launcher at the ninja. With the pull of a trigger, a single dart zipped toward the person, imbedding in their buttocks.

The assassin stifled a cry of pain as he pulled a small metal dart out of his butt. 'Another trap? Luck-'

His thought was cut off when another dart embedded itself into his hand. 'And maybe not.'

Using a system of triangulation to figure out Naruto's position, the ninja threw his two stolen shuriken at Naruto. It hit nothing. Peering harder, the ninja realized he couldn't see the boy at all!

Another dart shot at him, but this time he was ready, as he plucked the dart from the air.

Brandishing a kunai, he charged the approximate area that his target was supposed to be in. Naruto, who saw the advancing figure, jumped into the trees. As the man passed below him, Naruto jumped down, throwing a shuriken.

Acting on instincts alone, the ninja whipped around, deflecting the projectile with his kunai. To his delight, his elusive target finally stood in front of him. Staring at curiously at his attacker for a moment, Naruto made a hand seal, "Bushin no Jutsu!"

The assassin groaned as dozens of little green targets ran around the area. He didn't have enough weapons for all of them... Channeling chakra to his arms, the ninja thought, 'Chakra Scapels'. His hands were surrounded with a yellow glow as he spun around, destroying half the clones right there. Within another thirty seconds, he had confirmed the destruction of the last bunshin, but the original was nowhere to be seen.

To be defeated by such a low level jutsu was shameful, but to let a target escape was unacceptable! Suddenly, a piercing pain shot through his throat. He heard the soft 'twang' of the release of the dart before he felt it perforating his throat. His eyes widened as he grasped his throat with his hands, trying to stem the flow of blood. A green glow aura once again surrounding his hands, he hurriedly healed his wound, imperfectly as it turned out. A hole shaped scar marked the entry and exit of the projectile.

Infuriated to an unprecedented level, the assassin leveled his dart launcher, shooting all six of the toxin covered darts at Naruto. Suddenly, a large bulk covered his view of the boy and intercepted his darts.

The ninja stuttered, "Ji-Jiraiya! Of the Sannin!"

Jiraiya's eyes were a flaming red as he punched the ninja in the face, with a strength reminiscent of Tsunade. Shards of glass cut the ninja's face as his glasses broke. 'Shit, this has escalated beyond my control, time to make a tactical retreat...'

In a small poof of smoke, the assailant disappeared, leaving a panting Jiraiya and a confused Naruto.

He found himself in front of the Akatsuki base, being looked upon appraisingly by Sasori. "So it seems that you have failed in the capture of a five year old."

Taking out a stick resembling a cattle prod, Sasori walked closer, "Failing to capture a five year old is not acceptable in the Akatsuki."

The ninja's eyes widened as the cattle prod was shoved into his stomach.

His screams echoed through the cave. But there was no one to hear them.

* * *

Jiraiya lay on his knees, feeling the venom traveling through his blood stream. 'This poison...it causes paralysis... Damn, I don't have much time left before I'm unconscious.' 

Beckoning Naruto over, Jiraiya whispered, "N-Naruto, consider this your next training exercise, Information Gathering. I need you to find Tsunade and bring her to me. The darts...the darts were poisoned. Tsunade is a skilled medic-nin, she should be able to heal me. She's blond and has a horrible streak in gambling."

Coughing, Jiraiya finished, "Ask around the surrounding towns, she's still in the Fire Country some - somewhere...the nearest one is due east, about forty-five miles from here..."

Naruto looked on wide-eyed as sweat dripped down his brow. 'This is just like th- the genjutsu! But...Jiraiya...he's not going to die. I'll find this Tsunade person, you see if I won't!'

As Jiraiya kneeled over, Naruto had already jumped up heading east. "I WON'T LET YOU DOWN ERO-SENNIN!'

Jiraiya's last thought as the world blackened was, 'Stupid brat, no respect...at...all...'

* * *

_**To Pinstripe666 : I'm not reconsidering. The pairing will work fine. If you have something against Haku, I'm not the person to sympathize with you. **_

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End file.
